My Promise
by dwhsmfn
Summary: Gabriella was the result of a teen pregnancy, fearing becoming a teen mother herself she makes a promise to herself to wait until marriage. Can she keep that promise though when she meets someone she can't get her mind off of.
1. Chapter 1

Here's my second story. I hope everyone likes it. I'm not sure how fast I'll be able to update, but hopefully at least once/twice a week. The first couple of chapters will focus on Gabriella's life.

Chapter 1

David Montez and Maria Rodriquez lived in a small town in northern Texas and were always inseparable and started dating their freshman year in high school. They were in a way set up by their parents. They had been friends and lived right down the street from each other so they thought it was only natural that their children should end up together. During their junior year in high school David and Maria got carried away with each other after a friend of theirs' party and ended up making love for the first time. With the amount of alcohol they consumed that night the last thing on either of their minds was taking any sort of precaution. About a month later Maria had spent most of her morning in her bathroom while her parents were out. She finally had the courage to call up David and asked him to come over right away.

David didn't even bother knocking on the door and walked straight in and went up the stairs to the bathroom where he could hear Maria.

"Babe are you ok? What's going on?"

After rinsing her mouth out again and took a wash cloth to wipe down her face she turned to David.

"I think we have a problem."

The two made their way to the nearest drug store and picked up a home pregnancy test and went straight back to Maria's. After their suspicions were confirmed Maria began to freak out and didn't have a clue of what to do.

"What are we going to do? We're just in high school. We can't have a baby."

"Maria, we'll get through this. We'll survive this and you, me, and this little baby will be an amazing family."

The two thought as long as they were together they could get through anything. After telling their parents what was going on they were encouraged to get married as soon as possible. They moved in with Maria's family after the wedding and continued with school as they planned and then wanted to get a place of their own once they graduated.

David's family owned a huge advertising company and had been around the business his entire life so he knew he had a job and security that would help provide for his family once they got out on their own.  
Right before senior year started Maria went into labor and her parents and David got her to the hospital as fast as they could. Once they got her checked in and into the delivery room the entire family was standing outside the door.

"I hope she'll be alright."

"Don't worry sweetheart, our daughter is a fighter and she can get through anything."

A couple of hours later they all heard a crying coming from the room and David came running out announcing they had a girl and that they named her Gabriella. The families were thrilled and couldn't wait to meet the new addition to their growing family.

For the rest of David and Maria's senior year they thought they had it all, an amazing daughter, family that helped out whenever they wanted, and great friends who thought they were so cool to be married and have a baby. That all changed though after graduation. Maria's family told them it was time for them to find a place of their own. David was working for his father's advertising company while also taking college classes. Maria wasn't ready to move though and said she needed more time for college. Her mother was more than happy to help babysit Gabriella when she needed her, but that she couldn't be depended on all the time like she had been during the past year.

After they found their own place, David and Maria realized they didn't have any time for each other anymore. David was working during the day and taking classes at night, and when Maria wasn't studying she was taking care of Gabriella. Neither one of them realized how hard it would be to raise a baby, and knew that it wasn't as great as they thought it was while they were living with their parents.

A few years later David was done with school, but was constantly travelling for work now. He had clients all over the country he had to see, which left little time for Maria and Gabriella. By the time Gabriella had turned eight Maria decided she was fed up and demanded David to sit down and talk to her during one of his few nights at home.

"David you have to be home more, I can't take this anymore. It isn't fair that I'm doing everything. You are never here to help with Gabriella."

"You know how much job is. You know I'm only doing this to provide for this family."

"What family? You're never here so what kind of family could we be?"

"What do you want me to do?"

"The only thing I want from you is a divorce."

David couldn't believe his ears when he heard this. This was the last thing he expected to hear. This was just coming out of left field as far as he was concerned.

"You can't be serious?"

"I am more that serious. I can't deal with you never being here, and when you are home all you do is work. I can't live like this anymore."

A few months later everything was settled and the family they thought would be perfect just 9 years ago was now over. David decided it would be best to let Maria keep the house that way Gabriella wouldn't have to be moved. He didn't want her hurt anymore by this then she had to. By moving she would have most likely had to have changed schools and now wasn't the time for her to have to leave her friends behind. While David was in town he made sure to set some time aside to spend with Gabriella. The last thing he wanted was for his daughter to think that he didn't love her or that it was her fault that their family had fallen apart. Then after coming home after a month of being gone he found out that Maria and Gabriella had moved out of the house. He immediately ran over to his parents out to try and find some answers.

"Mom! Mom are you home?"

"David calm down sweetheart what's the matter?"

"Gabriella, mom where is Gabriella?"

"What do you mean? She's with Maria of course?"

"I figured that mom, but where's Maria? The house has a for sale sign in the front yard and everything had been moved out."

Susan Montez's eyes got huge and realized that Maria hadn't told David what had been going on in her life lately, and now knew that she would have to be the one to break the news to her son.

"Oh David, I hate to be the one to have to tell you this."

"Tell me what mom? Where are Maria and my daughter?"

"They've moved in with Maria's new boyfriend."

"What!"

"Maria's been seeing someone and they've gotten close. Oh David, they're engaged to be married."

David didn't know what to say. He figured this would happen soon or later. He can't say that he hasn't had his share of girlfriends since the divorce, but to hear Maria was getting married completely shocked him.

Eventually David heard everything from Maria and how she was planning on marrying a man named Don Hamilton. He seemed like a nice guy every time David would go over there to pick up Gabriella they would have a small conversation until she was ready to go, and he was glad that Gabriella seemed to get along with him as well. This way he knew Gabriella would be in good hands anytime he was away on business.  
It wasn't long before Mari and Don got married. Everything seemed to be the same for Gabriella after the wedding. David was home while after the wedding so Gabriella was able to spend a week with her father while Don and her mother went on their honeymoon. She figured once they got back everything would stay the same and they'd actually be a family. Little did Gabriella know that was nowhere near the truth.

After Maria and Don got back from their honeymoon, Gabriella moved back into the house with them so her father could go on another business trip. Gabriella started realizing there was something different going on since they had gotten back. Maria didn't seem to have as much time for Gabriella anymore and just seemed more interested in spending time with Don. They would talk during meals but any other time Maria was just fine with Gabriella staying home in her room and out of her way. At first Gabriella just brushed it off as her mom getting settled into married life again, but when she seemed to be getting more and more distant as the months went on she wasn't sure what to think. Gabriella spent most of her time with the few friends that she had. They didn't understand why Gabriella never wanted to hang out at her house, but she just didn't want them to pick up on her new relationship or lack thereof with her mother.

A few months after the wedding Gabriella got called down to the living room for a meeting with her mom and Don. Gabriella was starting to think that this marriage was already over, but it turned out to be the exact opposite when she found out her mom was having another baby.

"You're going to be a sister Gabi, and we're really going to need your help."

"You know I'll help however I can mom. I've always wanted a little brother or sister."

After finding out she was pregnant Maria and Gabriella's relationship started getting better again and Gabriella really thought that maybe her mom and Don just needed more alone time without her around.  
About eight months later Maria gave birth to another daughter and her and Don named her Jennifer. Gabriella couldn't have been happier to have a little sister a loved spending time with her and holding her. However, everything started changing again. Gabriella realized her mom seemed to be ignoring her again. She first noticed it one morning before she was getting ready to go to school and her mom didn't say two words to her. Then that night during supper she was completely ignored again as Don and Maria kept fussing over Jennifer. Gabriella didn't want to seem jealous of her new sister so she did her best not to let this bother her but she couldn't help it. She had spent time with her dad but didn't want him worrying about her either. Then one evening the doorbell rang at Gabriella's house and she walked to the door in her room to look down to see who was there. Don passed her in the hallway and stopped and turned back towards.

"You better stay up here. My parents have finally been able to come visit Jennifer and your mother and I don't want you spoiling their first visit with their granddaughter. So just stay in your room and don't make a sound."

Gabriella couldn't believe what she just heard. This was the first time Don had ever talked her like that. After this visit it continued getting worse. Her mother was now even talking like this to her. One evening while they were in the kitchen feeding Jennifer, Gabriella walked downstairs and saw all these paper sitting on the coffee table. She couldn't help herself so she took a peak and saw all sorts of brochures for boarding school in New England. She kept going through papers and saw an application form for one of them with all of her information written on it. Gabriella quickly put the papers back in the order they were in and ran upstairs to her room and picked up her phone.

"Come on grandma pick up."

"Hello?"

"Grandma, thank goodness you answered."

"Gabi, sweetie what's wrong?"

"Do you know when dad's coming back home?"

"Not for a couple more days. Why, what's going on?"

"Grandma, I really need you to come and pick me up."

"Gabi…"

"Grandma I can't explain now, please just hurry. I don't have school tomorrow and it's a long weekend so mom and Don won't suspect anything. I just need to really get out of here."

"Ok, don't get too excited. I'll be right over."

"Thank you."

Gabriella hung up the phone and started throwing things in her bag. She then went downstairs and saw her mom and Don still in the kitchen.

"Mom."

"What?"

"I was wondering if it was ok if stayed a Grandma and Granddad's for the weekend since I don't have school tomorrow and everything."  
Without even turning around to look at her daughter she agreed and told her to go. About twenty minutes later Gabriella saw her grandma's car pull up in the driveway so she ran as quickly as she could down the stairs.

"I'm leaving."

"Fine," was the only answer she heard.

She was finally out of the house and in her grandma's car explaining everything that had been going on since Don and her mom had gotten married.

to be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for everyone who's been reading. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter 2

Once Gabriella got back to her grandparents she filled them both in on what was going on including the brochures from the boarding school.  
"Grandma, I don't want to go to boarding school. Please tell me I won't have to."

Susan pulled her granddaughter into a big hug. She had trouble believing what she was hearing. It seems that Maria has changed a lot since her remarriage. She hadn't really talked to her much since then.

"Honey are you sure of what you saw?"

"Granddad, the forms had my name and information all over them. They're signing me up without even telling me about it."

"Susan, why don't you try and get a hold of David and tell him he needs to get home right away."

Susan went into the other room to make the phone call as Gabriella was still a little shaken by everything that had been going on. After Susan came back into the room she told them that David should be back in town tomorrow morning. Gabriella decided to excuse herself and go upstairs to get some sleep. She didn't realize how tired she was until just then. She was hopeful that once her dad got back that he would help fix everything. What she really wanted though was to live with her dad full time and not have to be under her mother or Don's thumb anymore. She couldn't stand being ignored by her own mother anymore while they were living together.

The next morning Gabriella was woken up by her dad tapping her on her shoulder.

"Gabi, honey, it's time to wake up."

"Dad."

"Yeah, it's me."

"Dad thank goodness you're home. You wouldn't believe everything that's been going on."

"You don't have to say anything Gabi, your grandma filled me in on everything that has been going on and we're going to fix this."

"You're going to let me come and live with you full time?"

"That's a possibility. You're old enough now that a judge would take what you say into consideration if you want to live with me, but you're going to have to tell him what's been going on with your mom."

"I know, and even though it will be hard to say what I have to in front of people I don't know, but I know I have to if it means getting out of that house."

A few weeks later they were at the court house. Gabriella had been a little nervous when her mom and Don walked in, but knew she could never go back to that house. She was planning on telling everything that had been going on since the baby arrived and how it wasn't a suitable environment for her anymore and that she would be better off with her dad and her grandparents. After hearing everything including the lack of interested her mother seemed to have in her, the judge awarded sole custody of Gabriella to her father and that she would be staying with her grandparents whenever David was out of town.

One week when David was gone again Gabriella was spending time with her grandma. Gabriella told her grandma that she wanted her life to be completely different from her parents. As much as she loved her dad she didn't want to end up like either one of them, especially her mom. She then made a promise to herself that the last thing she would ever become is a teenager mother and would never let that even possibly happen. Susan was very proud of Gabriella for making this decision, especially at an age where hormones begin to control you over your mind. Later that day Gabriella heard her grandma coming through the front door after she said she had to go and run an errand and that she'd be back later. Gabriella headed down stairs and saw her grandma carrying a small bag.

"What's that?"

"Well sweetheart, this is for you."

"Grandma, it's not my birthday or anything. You didn't need to buy me something."

"After our talk today and decided you should have one of these if you're serious."

Gabriella took the bag from her grandma and opened it up to find a small box. She looked back at her grandma before opening the box and looking at a ring.

"Grandma…"

"That's a purity ring. It symbolizes your wishes that you want to stay pure until you get married."

"Thank you so much."

"You're welcome. I hope I didn't read too much into what you said earlier today. You just seemed so sure of yourself."

"That's alright grandma. I meant what I said. I don't want to end up being a teen mother or having a baby before I'm ready, and I love the thought that there will only be one man I'll ever be with."

Gabriella slipped the ring on her finger and knew it wouldn't be coming off for a long time.

Throughout high school, Gabriella had a few close friends and she did date, however she never let any relationship she had get too serious or last very long. Her purity ring never left her finger, and most people didn't notice the ring she wore and just thought it was a piece of jewelry that she had. In her junior year she was dating a guy named Scott seriously, and she really enjoyed spending time with him and going out with him. However, things started getting more involved than she wanted them to and she broke it off with him without even talking with him about it. She could tell how upset he seemed to be by the breakup so she decided it was time to come clean with him about everything and made her way over to his house.

"Gabriella, it's so good to see. Maybe you can put Scott in a better mood. I haven't seen him this upset in a long time."

"I'll see what I can do Mrs. Johnson."

Gabriella walked past Scott's mother and made her way up the stairs and went towards Scott's room and lightly knocked on the door.  
"Scott, it's me, can I come in?"

Gabriella heard movement in the room and suddenly the door flew open.

"What?"

"I just wanted to see how you were doing and I think we should probably talk."

"What's there to talk about Gabriella? I thought we were good together, we seemed to be having fun and all of a sudden you break up with me for no reason."

"I know, and I want to tell you the reason now."

Scott stepped out of the door way to let her come in and she went to take a seat on the chair that he had next to his desk while he dropped down on his bean bag chair.

"First I'd like to apologize for everything. This is probably something we should have talked about as soon as we started dating."

"Gabriella, it can't be that bad, just tell me what's going on?"

"You know most everything about my family life. That my parents were teenagers and I was pretty much an accident baby."

"Ok…"

"Well, it caused a lot of problems. My parents fought a lot after they got married and then they divorced, which was the best thing they could ever do. I was the reason they got married so young and I always just felt like I was the source of the problem. Anyway, eventually my mother got remarried and started ignoring me and then she had another baby which even made me get ignored more. I finally was able to move in with my dad and when he was away on business I lived with my grandparents."

"Gabs, I know about you living with your dad and grandparents, but where is all this leading?"

"I made a promise to myself after I was living with my dad that I would never want to put a child in the same position I got put it, so I decided then that I wasn't going to be intimate with anyone until I got married."

Scott just looked at her for a second as everything was starting to make sense to her. He then took a better look at the ring she was wearing and couldn't believe he never really noticed it before.

"Gabi, did you breakup with me because you thought I'd pressure you into having sex?"

Gabriella didn't answer at first and looked away from Scott for a few seconds before facing him again.

"In a way, I guess I did. I was afraid of telling you the truth because I thought you think it was stupid or a joke."

"I would never make you do anything you didn't want to. You should have known that."

"I guess a part of me did, but the whole thought of it scares. I have had this fear for so long that I would end up being a teen mother and ended up resenting my child like my mother resents me. So the best way I decided to keep that from happening was making the decision to wait."

Scott got up from his bean bag and moved over towards Gabriella and knelt down in front of her.

"You can't believe that your mom actually resents you."

"You don't know my mother Scott. She was thrilled when I moved out of the house and in with my dad. I was no longer her problem. We barely ever talk, and I'm lucky even if I get a birthday card from her. She doesn't allow me to have anything to do with my sister, and since then she's also had another baby, and I haven't even met him."

Scott pulled Gabriella into a hug and couldn't believe how her mother treated her.

"You're never going to be like her Gabriella. You have to believe that."

"I think I do but it's always something in the back of my mind that scares me."

"What about us Gabriella? Do you want to breakup?"

Gabriella wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at Scott.

"I really think it would be better if we were just friends. I really just don't think I want to be in a relationship right now."

"I understand. I just want you to know that I want you in my life. You've really been my best friend all year. I never thought I could say that about anyone besides Josh, but with you I know I can."

"Thanks, Scott, and I'm really sorry about upsetting you so much."

The two made their way downstairs and Scott's mother insisted that Gabriella stay for dinner. Scott tried to convince his mom that Gabriella didn't want to, but Gabriella finally gave in and decided to stay. If Scott and she were going to stay friends then they should hang out still, but just as friends now.

Throughout the rest of her junior year and her entire senior year Gabriella decided to stay clear from relationships. There wasn't anyone she really had any interest in and she preferred to stick to her close knit group of friends that she had. Towards the end of her senior Gabriella received her acceptance letter from the University of Miami. She decided long ago that's where she really wanted to go, it was a new exciting place and she loved the idea of being close to the ocean.

Another thing that changed in her life during her senior was her father's marriage. He had finally met an amazing woman named Michelle and decided he wanted to settle down finally. He even decided to quit travelling so much so he could be home more with his wife. Gabriella didn't want to be jealous of her, but she was in a way, and wasn't sure how to feel about her father not being willing to stop travelling to actually be the one to raise her. Though after awhile Michelle and Gabriella became fast friends and she became somewhat of the mother figure she hadn't had in years. Right before her graduation Gabriella found out that Michelle and her dad were having a baby. David right away made sure Gabriella knew that she was just as important to them as the new baby was. He wanted her to know that the same thing that happened between Maria, Don, and Gabriella when they had their new baby wasn't going to happen with their family. Gabriella  
realized that this time was going to be different with this baby and had no problems helping Michelle getting ready for the baby before it was time for her to go to Miami. Gabriella knew she wouldn't be home for her dad and Michelle when they baby was born, but knew she would be there for the little guy/girl whenever she was needed.  
The day finally arrived when it was time to get Gabriella moved. She was completely nervous because this was the first time she'd be really away from her family, but knew this was something that she had to do and that would help her grow. She just hoped she was ready for everything that was waiting for her once she got there.

to be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone who's been reading. I appreciate it. I don't know anything about the University of Miami so anything in this story about the school is fictional. ENJOY!!**

Chapter 3

Gabriella was all moved into her new dorm room. David decided he wanted her to be comfortable so she was able to get a private room, but she shared a bathroom with three other girls. She wouldn't have minded sharing a room, but figured this way she wouldn't have to worry about getting in someone's way. After her dad and Michelle left to head back to Texas Gabriella wasn't sure really what to do, being the first time away from everyone she's ever really knew had become scary. She thought the best thing to do first one to make sure she knew where all her classes would be so she pulled out a map of the school that she got as well as her schedule that listed all the buildings. After studying for a few minutes she put her shoes on and made her way out of the dorm.

Gabriella got herself situated in the middle of all the buildings and walked up to the closest one to see the sign on it to see if she needed to be in that building. She walked by three different buildings before finding one that she actually had classes in. Before walking in she kept telling herself that she would get lost a lot before she figures all these buildings out. Once she entered the first building she needed to be in she began walking up to the second floor where she figured the class room would be in. She had to go down a hall way and then turned into another before she actually found the room she needed.

"Well there's one class room down, now four more to go."

Gabriella was walking down the hall of the last building she needed to be in and looking down at the room number on her schedule. She wasn't paying any attention to where she was going and ran right into something.

"oww."

Gabriella finally looked up and realized it was a person she hit and not a something.

"I'm sorry, I should have been paying closer attention to where I was going."

The guy she bumped into started picking up the papers he dropped before looking back up at the person talking to him.

"No problem, I wasn't really paying attention either. I guess you're looking for your classrooms to?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"Well you have your schedule and a map so I just figured."

Gabriella started blushing and looked down at the floor.

"Right, this place is just so big. I know I'm going to get lost at some point."

"I know what you mean. I felt the same way last year when I started here. I still get a little nervous when a new semester starts so I always make sure to know where all my class rooms are."

"Wow, your second year here and you don't know your way around yet?"  
"You said it yourself. This is a big place."

Gabriella smiled at him.

"Yes I did."

The two stood there for a few more seconds before Gabriella saw him put out his hand.

"I'm Troy Bolton."

"Gabriella Montez."

"It's nice to meet your Gabriella, so would you like me to help you find your classroom?"

"That's ok, I'm sure I'll manage. I don't want to hold you up."

"You wouldn't be. I just finished up finding everything actually and I have nothing else to do."

"If you sure then come on."

Troy took Gabriella's schedule from her and looked at the room number that they were looking for.

"This won't be hard it all. I actually know where this room is."

Gabriella followed Troy down a hallway and about half down it was the classroom that Gabriella was looking for.

"Well there you go."

"Thanks, you probably saved me from walking down a few hallways that would have been a waste of time."

"No problem, you wouldn't want to go and get something to eat would you? I mean you don't have to, I just figured…"

"Yeah sure that would be great. I don't really know anyone here yet. I'm sure you'd rather hang out with your friends or something though."

"Gabriella, I wouldn't have asked you to grab some food with me if I didn't want to."

"Ok, then let's go, but you're going to have to lead the way to the food because I have no idea where that is yet."

"Then it's a good thing that I found you, because that's one place you definitely need to know is."

Gabriella just laughed at Troy and followed him out of the building and past a few other buildings before they made their way to the one they wanted to go to.

"This is the building you need to be in order to eat."

"Really, I thought I was in here earlier today and didn't notice a food court or anything."

"It's in the basement actually so you might not have made your way down there."

"True."

Gabriella continued to follow Troy down the steps and she couldn't believe all the selections that were available. After grabbing her food and paid for it she met back up with Troy and the two made their way to an empty table.

"So Gabriella, where are you from?"

"Texas."

"Really, I didn't notice any kind of accent."

"I never really picked one up I guess, what about you? Where are you from?"

"Albuquerque, New Mexico."

"Wow, and I thought I was far away from home"

"Yeah, it's kind of hard at times not getting to see my mom and dad all the time, but my best friend actually came to school here, so at least I didn't come completely alone."

"I wish I could have convinced at least one of my friends to come here. Most of them really wanted to stick close to home. At one point I actually considered doing the same."

"Oh come?"

Gabriella explained to Troy about how her dad had just gotten remarried and that they were having a baby now.

"So it's kind of hard to be away right now, but I knew I would regret it if I didn't come here, and I'll get to see my little brother a lot."

"So they found out what they were having or are you just guessing?"

"They found out. Michelle wanted to be able to get everything bought in the right colors. It also made it easy for me to buy something and leave it with my grandparents to give to them when he's born."

"Are you planning on going home for a visit as soon as he's born?"

"One good thing is he's due right before Thanksgiving so there won't be that big of a time lapse before I get to see him. I've been told though that I would be getting a lot of emails with pictures attached as well as some sent to my phone."

The two continued to eat the food in silence for a few minutes before Troy started the conversation up again.

"So, do you have a boyfriend back home or anything?"

Gabriella looked up from her tray and was twirling her ring around her finger before answering him.

"No, no I'm not seeing anyone."

Troy picked up his sandwich and before he took a bite he replied to her, "Me neither." Then he took a bite and started looking around the room, a little embarrassed that he asked that but was also glad that he did.

After they finished eating Gabriella decided to head back to her dorm only to find out that Troy was in the same dorm building as he was.  
"Isn't this just lucky."

"I guess so."

The two walked down the path that lead them back to the dorm and continued talking. Once they got to the dorm, Gabriella led Troy down to where her room is.

"So, do you get along with your roommate?"

"Actually I don't have one. I got a single room."

"Wow, lucky you. I have a room with a friend, but it would definitely be nice to have a room of my own."

"Yeah I'm sure it will have advantages."

"I know I would take advantage of having a room to myself. Definitely easier that way then having to convince your roommate to stay out of the room while you're…Well while you have someone in the room with you."

Gabriella definitely knew what he was talking about and decided it was probably best to cut off the conversation for now.

"Well, I guess I need to go in Troy. I still have a few things I need to unpack. Thank you again for helping me out today. I'd probably still be looking for the food court if I hadn't bumped into you, literally. I'll see you around."

Gabriella unlocked her door and turned back to Troy and gave him a smile before closing the door behind her. Troy just stared at the door for a few seconds and new something wasn't right at the end of the conversation they were having but couldn't put his finger on it.

"Maybe she's just tired after a long day. I'll have plenty of time to talk to her and get to know her better."

to be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

**Here's the next chapter. I hope eveyone enjoys it. Thanks to everyone who's been reading!**

Chapter 4

Over the next couple of days Gabriella avoided seeing Troy. She met a few other girls from the dorm that were by her room and hung out with him. She did notice Troy walking close by a couple of times, but she just continued on with the conversation she was having. By the middle of the next week Gabriella had managed to dodge Troy she would guess a dozen times. She was starting actually wonder why she was doing this.

"Just because he hinted that he liked to have girls in his room without a roommate interrupting them didn't me anything or he was suggesting something. If he wants to be my friend, why should I stop him."

"Talking to yourself, Gabriella?"

Gabriella jumped a little and turned out to see Troy standing there with a smile on his face.

"Just thinking out loud, kind of a bad habit I guess if you don't want people thinking you're strange or something."

"No big deal, I've been known to do that myself."

The two just stood there for a few more seconds before Troy decided to try and start up a conversation with her before she could walk away.  
"So, I haven't talked to you since last week. I've seen you around, but you never really acknowledged me."

"Sorry, I've just been kind of busy and overwhelmed. I've been hanging out with some of the girls that live down the hall from me. Before I came here I thought it would be the hardest thing to make new friends, but it's been actually kind of easy."

"Yeah, I remember how that felt. So, if you're not busy do you want to hang out?"

"Well…" Gabriella couldn't think of a good excuse of why she couldn't. She had finished up with her classes for the day and she really didn't have anything else going on. She looked back up at Troy and knew there was no way she was going to be able to say no to that look he was giving her. "I guess, I just need to put this stuff back in my room so that shouldn't take any more than ten minutes."

"Great."

Gabriella walked into the dorm and Troy followed right behind her as she made her way down the halls that took her to her room. Once she was there she unlocked the door and Troy followed her in. She didn't even realize he was still behind her at the time, and thought they would meet back by the front door.

"Nice room."

Gabriella jumped for the second time that day from the sound of his voice.

"Good grief, I didn't realize you followed me down here."

"Sorry, I just assumed you wanted me to follow you."

"That's ok, I thought we'd meet back by the front door is all."

"Oh, well we could always just hang out in here if you want. I mean there won't be anyone coming in to interrupt us."

Gabriella's eyes got huge and took what he was saying completely wrong.

"Excuse me?"

Troy realized what she was thinking and immediately started back peddling.

"I mean, no one would interrupt us from talking, I didn't mean…I'm going to shut up now."

Gabriella made her way back to the door and opened it up.

"How about we just go for a walk? I'm sure there are a few other buildings I haven't found yet."

"Sounds good to me."

The two made their way out of the dorm and Troy decided that Gabriella should find out where the gym is.

"And why should I know where this is?"

"Because this is where you go to exercise."

"I know what the purpose of a gym is, but I think I'll get all the exercise I need from walking from one end of campus to another with a bag full of books on my back."

"True, but if you ever feel the need to get in an extra workout this is where to go."

Gabriella just laughed as Troy tried to promote the gym and she kept finding excuses of why she didn't need to go there.

"You do know that it's going to be a work out just to get to the gym from my room."

Troy looked over at her and told her to quit coming up with excuses not to go there.

Once they got inside Gabriella realized there was more to this place then just weights and tread mills. They also had an indoor track, racket ball rooms, numerous basketball courts, and even an indoor rock climbing room. As she was looking around Troy pointed out a few of the rooms to her.

"That's the women's locker room over there. There is an entrance to the pool from both locker rooms."

"There's an indoor pool here?"

"That surprises you?"

"I guess not, I never really thought about it I guess."

"Are you much of a swimmer?"

"I like to swim for fun. I think if I tried to swim laps like you see those people do on TV I'd sink before I got half a lap in."

"We'll definitely have to come here sometime then. What we really need to do though is get off campus one day and go down to the beach."  
"You have a car here?"

"Yeah, my parents thought it would better for us to drive my car here this year so I'd have a way to get around while I'm here. That was definitely the longest drive of my life. Then once we got here they flew back home."

"Well it's probably convenient to get around though."

"The car has definitely been a plus since I got here. So what do you say about going down to the beach one day during the weekend?"  
Gabriella really wasn't sure what to say. She knew he had friends here because he's mentioned them, and didn't know why he wanted to spend time with her.

"Wouldn't you rather go with your friends or something?"

"Well, I figured they could come to, and maybe you can bring a few of your new friends. That way we'd have a group of people that would get to know each other."

"Ok, I'll see if they want to go and let you know."

"Great, so where should we go next?"

The two of them left the gym and made their way around campus. A couple of hours later they managed to work their way back to the dorm and to Gabriella's door.

"So, thanks for showing me the gym, even though I probably will never use it."

"Sure you won't, I'll be willing to bet I'll see you in there all the time."

"Do you work in there or something and get more money with every person you get to go in there?"

Troy started laughing at her. "No, but I'm in there a lot actually."

"That's kind of obvious." As soon as that came out of her mouth Gabriella couldn't believe that she said it, and she lowered her head down as she started to blush.

"Have you been checking me out Gabi?"

"No of course not…I better go. I'll call you when I find out about the beach."

Gabriella quickly unlocked her door and went into her room. As soon as she closed the door Troy just stood there smiling at the door.

"She's been checking me out."

Troy then headed down the hall to make his way back to his own room. After a few minutes Gabriella figured Troy wouldn't be out there anymore so she stepped back out of her room and went down to Taylor's room and hoped that she'd be back from class. Once she got there she noticed she had her door opened and quickly knocked on it before walking in.

"Hey girl, how was the free afternoon?"

"Good, I went and saw the gym."

Taylor shot her a strange look. "Why would you go there?"

"Well, my guide decided I needed to know where it was at."

"Your guide?"

"Yeah, Troy Bolton, I met him on the first day. He seems really nice."

"Gabi, do you have a crush on this boy already?"

"What, me…yeah I think so."

"That's hilarious. The girl who said she wasn't much for relationships is already crushing on someone, and if he's hanging out with you this much then he must be feeling the same way."

"You think so?"

"Yeah, why do you seem so nervous about it?"

Gabriella wasn't really ready to get into too many details of what she was thinking so she decided to bring up the beach trip.

"Taylor, how would you feel about going to the beach this weekend?"

"Are you kidding? I would love to go. I've never seen the ocean and it was a major plus for coming down here."

"Good, Troy invited me to go this weekend and he told me to ask some of my friends if they wanted to go and he would invite some people."

"It sounds good to me. Are you going to invite anyone else?"

"I was thinking maybe Sharpay."

"Ok, well I'm definitely in, so if you weren't going to commit to going until you found out if you had someone else going with you then you can call him up and tell him yes now."

"I'll do that, and thanks for agreeing to go."

"No problem, but he better not have any annoying friends."

Gabriella smiled at Taylor as she walked out of her room. She went by Sharpay's but she wasn't back in yet. Once she got back to her room she picked up her cell phone before realizing she didn't have Troy's phone number. So she grabbed her land line phone and called the desk up front to get connected to his room. He picked up after a couple of rings.

"Hello."

"Hi Troy, it's Gabriella."

"Hey, I was hoping you would call."

"I just wanted to let you know that my friend Taylor and I are in for going to the beach. I was going to ask someone else to, but she's not back yet. So there might be three of us."

"That's ok, my roommate, Zeke, is going to and he has a car as well, so there will be plenty of room."

"Ok, well then that's all I really needed to tell you so I guess I'll go."

"We could talk for awhile if you want. I mean if you're not busy."

"No, I'm free, but what do you want to talk about."

"Anything you want. You can just tell me everything about you and then I'll tell you everything about me."

Gabriella's was confused about why he would want to know so much about her so fast. She was spinning her ring down on her finger while she was thinking.

"Gabriella, are you still there?"

"Yeah I'm here. So who should go first?"

to be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

**here's the next chapter. I hope everyone likes it, and thanks for reading!**

Chapter 5

The weekend finally came and Gabriella was putting some stuff in a back pack to take with her. Sharpay decided to go as well so they were going to take two cars. Gabriella and Taylor were going to ride with Troy and his friend Chad, and Sharpay was willing to ride alone with Zeke. While putting her towel in her bag Gabriella began thinking back to the phone conversation she had with Troy the other night. She decided not to tell every personal thing about herself. She didn't feel like she knew him well enough to get that in depth with him, but that sure hadn't stopped him from talking. She heard plenty of things she definitely didn't want to know. He was talking about his family, friends, and ex girlfriends and he wasn't afraid or embarrassed by how much he was talking about them. During the conversation Gabriella wondered if he had forgotten who he was talking to. The last thing Gabriella wanted to know about was Troy's past with other girls, but he didn't seem embarrassed to tell her, and just seemed to want her to know everything about him. Gabriella was shaken out of her thoughts though when there was a knock at her door.

"It's open, come on in."

Troy peaked his head through the door and then walked the rest of the way in.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's me just go get Taylor and Sharpay and we can head out."

Troy looked at the clothes she was wearing and then back to her face.

"You do have your swimming suit don't you?"

"It's on under my clothes. Is there a problem?"

"No, I was just asking."

"Ok, let's go to the beach."

Gabriella knocked on both Taylor and Sharpay's door and they were out within seconds. They met up with Chad and Zeke by the front door and made their way to the parking lot. Zeke lead Sharpay to his car, while everyone else headed towards Troy's car. There was a comfortable silence the entire way to the beach. Troy was hoping that Gabriella would be upfront with him but she had quickly crawled into the back seat with Taylor. Once they all arrived they grabbed all their stuff and found an empty spot where they could keep it. Chad decided he'd be the first one to speak up.

"So, should we get the Frisbee out first, or do you guys want to get in the water?"

Everyone decided to go in the ocean first. This was the first time Taylor and Gabriella were actually going to be in the ocean. Troy didn't mean to stare, but he couldn't help himself as he watched Gabriella take off the clothes that she had on over her swim suit. He noticed that she didn't wear a normal looking bikini like Sharpay was wearing, but something that was two pieces but covered up a lot more. Once Troy got his shirt and shoes off he walked up to Gabriella and put out his hand.

"Shall we?"

Gabriella gave him a small smile before taking his hand and all six of them began running towards the water. At first Gabriella and Taylor were shocked by how cool it was. They really didn't know what to expect but they figured it should have been warmer with how hot the weather had been. They eventually were able to get use to it and joined in with others splashing around. The six of them eventually got out of the water and the boys were throwing the Frisbee around while the girls were building a sand castle.

"So Gabi, what is the story behind you and Troy?"

"What are you talking about Sharpay?"

"Come on Gabriella, you can't keep something like this from us. We're all friends now, and it's very obvious from the way he looks at you."

"There isn't anything going on Sharpay. We've hung out a few times and talked on the phone maybe once and that's all."

"If you say so, but from the way he looks at you, he's got it bad."

Gabriella rolled her eyes at Sharpay and went back to working on their castle. Everyone eventually he decided to head back in the water. Troy started swimming further out and tried his best to get Gabriella to join him but she wasn't having any of that. She preferred to stay close to the shore. A few minutes later Troy snuck up from behind Gabriella and grabbed her causing a loud scream, and a nervous Troy trying to calm her down.

"Gabriella, it's just me, it's ok."

Gabriella turned around and couldn't believe that Troy was standing there behind her trying not to laugh and a lot of the people staring at them, so she started hitting him.

"Troy, you idiot, you scared me half to death."

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry. I won't do it again, but could you please stop hitting me."

After she finally let up he started rubbing his arms where she had been slapping.

"I think there's going to be a bruise."

"Serves you right."

"Gabriella, please don't be mad, I was trying to have some fun with you and I didn't really mean to scare you."

Gabriella was now walking out of the water and back up towards her stuff. What Troy didn't notice was Sharpay and Taylor filling up a bucket full of sand and then making their way towards him. Chad and Zeke were now facing Troy but behind Gabriella and could tell what was about to happen and decided this was too good of a moment to stop.

"Gabi, I'm really…"

Troy couldn't get another word out because his hair was now covered in sand and it was falling into his face. Everyone cracked up laughing at Troy was trying to wipe all of the sand off his head. He gave a death glare back at Chad and Zeke and they soon shut up.

"So Gabi, you think this is funny."

"I'm sorry Troy, but it serves you right for making me scream like that and getting everyone staring at me."

"How about we get everyone staring at you again?"

"What do you mean?"

Troy started walking closer to Gabriella as she backed up.

"Come on Troy it was just a joke and I wasn't even in on it."

"Oh I think you were. Someone had to distract me long enough for them to get that sand."

"Troy I swear…" but she couldn't finish her sentence as he started getting closer and she took off running. Eventually he was able to catch up to her and picked her up and spun her around. He then lifted her up and threw her over his shoulder.

"Troy, put me down."

"I don't think so, not yet at least."

"Troy, please, I really didn't mean it."

They soon got back to everyone else and he finally put her back down.  
"That what you get for laughing at me."

Sharpay decided to join in on the conversation after that.

"Troy, she probably got a bigger laugh at having to look at your backside the entire way back over here while you were carrying her."

Gabriella looked down and started blushing as Troy just stared back at Sharpay.

"Actually, I'm sure she enjoyed the view quite nicely."

Gabriella's face grew even redder at that point, and stayed closer to the girls from the rest of the afternoon. When it was getting closer to the time to head back, Troy grabbed a hold of Gabriella's hand and pulled her a little bit away from everyone else.

"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you with that comment earlier."

"It's ok, I'm sure I've been embarrassed by worse comments before."

"Are you sure you're ok?"

"Yeah no problems."

"Good…I was wondering if maybe you would like it if Chad and Taylor rode back with Zeke and Sharpay?"

"Why?"

"Well I figured it would give us a chance to talk some more, you know just the two of us, and I thought maybe we could stop somewhere and get something to eat."

"I don't think I really brought enough money with me today to stop for food Troy."

"That's ok, I'd pay. I guess I'm asking you out on a date here."

"Oh."

"Yeah, so what do you say? I asked Zeke if they could ride back with him and he's ok with it."

"I guess it would be ok then."

"Good. Let's go get the rest of our stuff and then we can head out. We can just stop at a fast food if you want. It's not like we're really dressed to go anywhere else."

"This is true."

After picking up everything off the beach the six of them headed back to their cars. Once they got everything loaded in they said bye to the rest of them and then climbed into Troy's car.

"So we all set?"

"I think so."

"Ok, then you pick, what fast food are you wanting today?"

"I guess you can never go wrong with Burger King."

"Ok, then Burger King is it."

Troy pulled out of his parking spot and made his way back to the highway with the hopes that this would be the first of many nights out with Gabriella.

to be continued...


	6. Chapter 6

**Here's the next chapter. Again, thanks to everyone who's been reading.**

Chapter 6

Troy and Gabriella were pulling up to the Burger King when Gabriella finally looked at her phone and realized she had a missed called message.

"Are you ready to go in?"

"Yeah, just a minute my dad left me a message."

Gabriella got into her voice mail and listed to what her dad wanted.

"Hi Gabi, just wanted to check in and see how you were doing. We've been kind of busy here. Michelle is cleaning everything in sight. She even cleaned the cleaning products. Well just give me a call when you can. I hope you're having fun and keeping up with your school work. I love you."

Gabriella put her phone in her bag and then turned to Troy.

"Ok, I'm ready to go now."

"Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, just my dad checking in and telling me some crazy stuff that Michelle's been doing."

"Really like what?"

Troy and Gabriella made it to the door and Troy pulled it open for her.

"Well, she's cleaning everything she can find. He said she's even been cleaning the cleaning products."

"Wow, I don't think I've ever heard that one before."

"Sounds kind of crazy."

The two got in line behind another couple and decided what they wanted. Once their food came out Troy grabbed a hold of the tray and carried it to a booth that Gabriella had already picked out and had their drinks sitting out.

"You're food is ready."

"Why thank you."

"So, Gabi I would love to hear more about you. I want to know everything."

"Everything?"

"Yeah, I want to know everything there is to know about Gabriella Montez, and I think I pretty much told you all there is to know about me the other night."

"That's true, I could probably take a this is Troy Bolton's life quiz now or something. We talked about me though the other night to."

"Yeah, but it just seems most of the conversation was about me. So you must have left some stuff out while we were talking."

"Maybe I did."

Troy took a bite from his burger and just looked at Gabriella waiting for her to go on. "Well, then tell me? I really want to know all about you."

"It's not that interesting."

"Let me be the judge of that."

"Ok, well you know that I live with my dad and my step-mom and that I'm going to have a little brother this fall."

"Yeah."

"And you know that I spent a lot of time with my grandparents while my dad was travelling for work."

"Yeah, we've talked about that. There more to your life than just that though."

"True. I told you about my friends in high school."

"Yes you did, but I'm wanting to hear something new."

"Ok, you win. I don't really get along with my mom. I'm assuming you probably figured that out from my lack of talking about her."

Troy took a drink before he spoke up. "I figured something was off with her. I didn't want to bring her up since I wasn't sure if something happened to her and you just didn't want to talk about it."

"Well, she's alive and well, but just not one of my favorite topics."

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I'll listen if you feel like talking about it. I was serious when I said I really wanted to get to know you."

Gabriella smiled at him and took a drink herself before telling him about the relationship between her and her mother. "We use to get a long great. She'd take me shopping and spend a lot of time with me. Then she started dating this guy and he just seemed more important to her then me. It wasn't very noticeable at first, I didn't even really notice, but once they got married was when it got bad."

"What happened?"

"We never really talked at all anymore. She just wanted to spend all her time with him and really didn't have any time for me at all. At times it was like I wasn't even there. With my dad travelling so much my mom had custody of me so I didn't really know what to do so I just lived with the way things were."

"I'm sorry."

"Troy it wasn't your fault. You weren't even there."

"Still, I hate hearing that you had to go through all that."

"Well I thought things were going to turn around when my mom found out she was pregnant. She really seemed to want to include me on everything, but once the baby came it all went back to the way it was before only worse."

"What do you mean worse?"

"I was lucky to hear ten words out of her in a day. My step-dad at one time told me to stay out of the way while his parents were coming over to see the new baby."

"Please tell me you're not serious."

"I wish I wasn't. Things finally got bad enough that I called my grandma and asked her if I could stay with her for awhile until my dad got back into town. She came and got me and not long after my dad was back home and we were in court. My dad was able to get full custody of me then and I stayed with my grandparents when he was gone. I haven't really seen much of my mother since then. She has two other kids now and I don't even know them. How weird is that, I don't even know my sister and brother."

Troy took Gabriella's hand in his and gave it a squeeze. "You know you're stronger now because of that. You survived something that probably would have broken a lot of kids at that age."

"I guess, but there are times I still wonder what I did wrong."

"You didn't do anything wrong."

Gabriella thought to herself that there was one thing she definitely did wrong, but didn't really want to get into it with Troy about how she thought her birth and the fact that pretty much ended her mother's care free years was probably what she did wrong.

After they finished their food Troy took the tray and threw all the garbage into the trash can. Gabriella and he then filled their drinks back up and made their way out to his car. Once they got back to school, Troy grabbed a hold of Gabriella's hand as they walked back to the dorm. Before they walked into the front door Troy stopped and pulled Gabriella over to a bench that was there.

"Do you mind if we just sit here for awhile? It's a nice night."

"Sure."

"I really had a good time today Gabi, and I want you to know that the whole grabbing you from behind and scaring you and all that was just for fun."

"I know that Troy, don't worry about."

"Good, so do you think maybe we could go out again sometime? You know just the two of us?"

Gabriella smiled at Troy and knew she wanted to be around him a lot more. "Yeah that sounds great."

"How about I walk you to your door?"

"Ok."

The two of them got up from the bench and made their way inside. Once they got back to her room the two just stood there in silence for a couple of seconds.

"I really had a great time today Troy. Thank you so much for suggesting that we go to the beach. I think the others really liked it to."

"Yeah, don't tell anyone that I told you this, but I think Chad has a small crush on Taylor."

"Well don't you tell anyone this, but Sharpay thinks Zeke is hot."

The two started laughing before Gabriella turned to her door and unlocked it.

"I guess this is good night then."

"Yeah I guess so…" Troy was hoping that Gabriella would invite him in.

"I'll see you later."

Gabriella then closed the door behind her leaving Troy just standing there once again. He had no idea of what to think of this. He knew it had been awhile since he pursued someone, but most girls were all for inviting him into their rooms when their roommates weren't around. He really wanted to be with Gabriella so he didn't want to pressure her, it just never took this long for him to get with someone.

to be continued...


	7. Chapter 7

**Here's the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks to everyone who's been reading.**

Chapter 7

The next morning Gabriella got up bright and early. Most people her age probably wouldn't do that, but she was used to it. After getting dressed she made her way out to the front of her dorm and ran into Troy in the lobby area.

"What are you doing up this early?"

"I was about to ask you the same question, but I wanted to get an early workout in so I'm heading to the gym."

"I see, well I'm on my way to the chapel to get to the Sunday church service."

"Oh."

"It doesn't start for an hour, but I figured by the time I actually found the place and got there it would be about to start. That was one place you forgot to take me on my tour."

Troy started rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, I didn't really think about it, and to tell you the truth I really don't know where it is either."

"Then, I better get going."

Gabriella started making her way to the front door when Troy decided to stop her. "Hey Gabi, wait a minute."

Gabriella stopped before she got the door opened and turned back to Troy. "What?"

"Well, would you like some company or something?"

"You want to help me find the chapel on your way to the gym?"

"No, I thought maybe if you don't mind waiting, I could go get changed and go with?"

Gabriella got a skeptical look on her face. First Troy told her he didn't even know where the chapel was, and now he was volunteering to actually go to mass with her.

"Troy, I doubt you'd want to go."

"No, I'll go with you, just give me about ten minutes. I'll get changed and then we can go. Wait right here."

Troy made his way back down the hall way that lead to his room. Gabriella just stood there completely shocked that she was going to have company going to church with her. She figured she might as well take advantage of it since this would probably be the only time he'd want to go with her.

About ten minutes later Troy showed back up in a pair of khaki pants and a polo shirt. "Ok, is this good enough?"

Gabriella gave him a once over and smiled at him. "You look very nice. Shall we go?"

"Yeah, let's see if we can find this place."

The two made their way out of the dorm and started walking towards the main campus hoping there would be some kind of sign pointing them in the right direction. About a half hour later they were able to find the building and made their way inside. Troy was kind of surprised by how many students actually seemed to be there.

"Troy, do you just want to sit over there?"

Troy looked to where Gabriella was pointing at an empty row of seats. "Yeah that's fine." Troy followed Gabriella's lead as they went to their seats.

About fifteen minutes later the service started. Troy really didn't know what he was doing, but just stood and sat when everyone else did. He kept on looking over at Gabriella's book to see what page she was on so he could at least follow along. After awhile Troy noticed a lot of people get up and head to the front of the church and that Gabriella was doing the same. He started getting up himself and Gabriella stopped him and told him just to wait here. He really wasn't sure what was going on, but stuck to his seat like she asked him to. Once the mass was over Troy and Gabriella made their way back outside.

"So, what did you think of it?"

"Well there's a lot of sitting and standing, and what was with everyone going up front towards the end?"

"We were going up there for communion."

"And I couldn't go because?"

"Are you Catholic Troy?"

"No."

"It's hard to explain, but during a Catholic mass and if you're Catholic you'd go up there for communion."

"Ok, well since I went to church with you, how about you now go the gym with me."

Gabriella started laughing at Troy. "So that's the reason you wanted to go to church. You figured you could get me to go to the gym with you then."

"I told you that you'd be going there."

"Ok you win. Let's go and get changed and then we can go to the gym"  
Once they got back to the dorm and got changed they were soon back out and going to the gym. While they were walking Troy grabbed a hold of Gabriella's hand and smiled at her.

"So Troy, how are classes going?"

"Ok, there really isn't anything to hard right now. I'm still on my required classes before I can really start on my major."

"What are you majoring in?"

"Business and focusing on marketing, what about you, do you know what you're going to major in?"

"I'm leaning towards advertising. With my family's advertising agency it just seems to work."

"Cool, maybe eventually we'll even have some classes together."

"You never know."

They finally arrived to the gym and they changed their shoes and Troy offered to put Gabriella's in his locker since she didn't have one assigned to her. A couple of minutes later Troy came back out of the locker room and Troy led Gabriella into the fitness center area.

"Ok Gabi, let's go back here where the weights are."

"Weights? I think I'm just going to stick to the tread mill, or the stair stepper, or one of the stationary bikes."

"We can come back and do those later. First we need to hit the weights."

"Troy, I will seriously embarrass myself if I try and lift something back there."

Troy tried not to laugh but got a little chuckle out. "You'll be fine. There are plenty of lighter weights you can use. I'll promise to help you if you need it."

"Ok, if I hear anyone laughing at me then I'm going to keep coming back here just to get strong enough to beat you up."

"Then I'll just beat up anyone who laughs at you so I don't have to suffer getting beat up by you."

"Just remember that you've been warned."

The two made their way to the weight room and Gabriella couldn't believe all the weight machines that were back there. Troy took over to one that he thought would be the easiest. He set the weight low for her and then showed her how to work the machine. Gabriella seemed to get the hang of it fast and realized it wasn't as hard as she thought it could be. After showing her a few more machines, Troy let Gabriella decided what she wanted to do and he went to start his own workout. About a half hour later the two made their way out of that room and went back into the room with the cardio machines. They both got on tread mills and Troy started running and Gabriella stuck to a walk.

"Come on Gabriella, I know you could at least go a little faster."

"Troy, my legs are sore after that leg press machine. I'm just going to pace myself."

A few minutes later Gabriella decided to speed her machine up some, but wasn't going to make it go fast enough that she had to actually run. She was kind of surprised by Troy's endurance since he never seemed to slow down, but after seeing him at the beach she could tell that he was definitely in shape. About 45 minutes into the walk Gabriella decided she'd had enough when she felt that her legs weren't going to be able take much more. She started to slow the machine down until it was at a stop and hopped off. She then went a grabbed a towel and wiped down the tread mill. Troy didn't show any signs of stopping so she decided to go and get a drink and when she came back in she noticed he had slowed down to a walk.

"Just give me a couple of more minutes."

"Ok."

Once Troy was off, his shirt was completely covered in sweat and Gabriella couldn't help but stare at him.

"You ok?" Troy couldn't help but laugh because he knew she was looking at him and his shirt pretty much sticking to him.

"Yeah, are you ready?"

"Well, I'm going to take a quick shower and then we can go. There's one in the women's locker room to if you want to get cleaned up."

"I think I'll just wait until I get back to my room. I didn't bring anything like that with me."

"Ok, I'll try and make this fast."

Troy ran back into the locker room and Gabriella sat on a bench that had a TV in front of it to wait for him. He didn't seem to take too long and they made their way back to the dorm.

"Wow, half the day is over."

"Between your church, and my gym I think we've taken care of Sunday."

"I guess so. Now I really want to find something to eat. That protein bar that I ate on the way to the gym really isn't enough for me in one day."

"There's a pizza place that delivers that's right off campus. We could order one and watch some TV if you want? You could come down to my room. Zeke's got plans tonight."

"Sure that could work."

"Ok, is sausage fine and you can come down about six?"

"Yeah that will work."

"Then I'll see you in a couple of hours."

The two split up to go to their rooms to get ready for the rest of the day.

Gabriella noticed that it was five until six so she decided to head to Troy's room. This would be the first time she was actually alone with him in a closed area. She was a little nervous, but figured it wasn't that big of a deal. Once she got there she knocked on the door and heard a come in from the other side. As soon as she opened the door she saw the pizza box and bottle of coke along with two cups sitting on the floor.

"Hey, just in time. The pizza just arrived and the football game is getting ready to start."

"Football?"

"You don't mind do you? There really isn't much on Sunday nights."

"It's fine, I actually like watching sports."

"Good, I didn't want to really mess up before the night even started."

Gabriella kicked her shoes off and took a seat on the floor next to Troy and pulled out a slice of pizza as Troy was filling her cup with the soda. During the game they talked more about the classes they were taking and what they thought of their professors. Troy notice half way through the game that Gabriella was rubbing her low legs.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not really. I guess my legs just took somewhat of a beating today from that trip to the gym."

"Well you know the best way to get rid of that pain?"

"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."

"You need to get back in that gym and do it all over again."

"I had a feeling you'd say that."

"It's true, this way you it starts feeling better and if you keep working out then you won't have that much soreness afterwards."

"Is this just some way you're trying to convince me to go with you to the gym all the time?"

"Well, would that be a bad thing?"

"No, I guess not."

"Good."

When the game was getting close to being over Troy noticed Gabriella was almost asleep on the floor.

"Hey, if you're getting tired you can go back to your room. This game is pretty much over anyway."

"I guess I better. The last thing I need to do is fall asleep in here."

"I definitely wouldn't mind that."

Gabriella gave Troy a quick smile and then grabbed her shoes. Troy also got up and picked up the pizza box and tried to shove it in his waste basket.

"I had fun today Troy."

"So did I, maybe we'll have to make this a Sunday thing."

"Church, gym, pizza, and football?"

"Yeah why not? I could get use to going to church I think."

"I may hold you to that."

Gabriella made her way to the door and started to open it when Troy stopped her.

"Gabriella…"

"Yes."

Before she could say anything else he pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss that seemed to last forever. Gabriella eventually pulled away and was a little shocked by it.

"I have to go."

She quickly got the door opened and immediately shut it behind her and walked as fast as she could down the hall way. She figured he might have tried to kiss her, but wasn't really expecting a kiss like that. Back in Troy's room he was again just left there to stand with a confused look on his face.

"Why did she run away like that?"

Zeke came back about a half hour later and knocked on the door.  
"Is it safe to come in?"

"Yeah."

Zeke opened the door and saw Troy lying on the floor watching TV.

"So what happened?"

"Nothing, we just watched some TV and ate some pizza."

"You're joking right, you are Troy Bolton, and you're saying you didn't try anything."

"I didn't say I didn't try anything."

"She turned you down?" Zeke couldn't believe that. This had been the first time since he had known Troy that he had gotten turned down by any girl.

"I don't really know what happened. She was getting tired so I suggested that she go, and before she could leave I kissed her, and she seemed really into it. Then all of sudden she pulled away from me, said she had to go, and got out of here as fast she could."

"Wow, tough break, I guess you'll just have to find someone new."

"Maybe, but I'm definitely going to try a few more times before I give up. There has to be some reason she's turning me down."

to be continued...

**A/N...Quick question. I was looking for a story and I think it might have been deleted but I thought I would ask. I can think of the name of it but Gabriella and Troy used to be friends when they were little, but when Gabriella's father dies she wants to run away and Troy tells his parents and they stop her. She thinks of it as Troy betraying her so she turns against him. When they're in High School they work at lava springs and are still enemies. They have a fight at the country club one night which ends in them sleeping together. If anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated...THANKS!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Again thanks to everyone who's been reading. I appreciate it!**

Chapter 8

A couple of days later Gabriella was sitting in the food court with Taylor and Sharpay. She's been avoiding Troy and been able to do a good job at it. Between classes and homework she didn't even have to come up with an excuse. She'd go to the library a lot to do her homework and wouldn't answer her cell when his number came up.

"Gabi, what's going on?"

Gabriella looked up from her food and across the table at her friend. "What do you mean Sharpay?"

"Don't act like nothing's wrong. It's been obvious that you've been avoiding Troy, so what gives?"

Gabriella looked around and didn't see anyone around that would be interesting in listening in so she decided to tell them.

"So, you're upset because Troy kissed you and you thought it was happening too fast?"

"Kind of, but also he's told me about his past and his past relationships and experiences…and well."

"You think he is too experienced for you."

"That's exactly what I think Taylor."

Sharpay decided to rejoin the conversation. "But Gabi, how experienced could he be, it's can be that big of a deal for you."

"Sharpay, he's flat out told me how experienced he is, and well let's just say I didn't have that many friends in high school."

That kind of shocked both girls. From the way he looked they figured he had girls throwing themselves at him but they never figured that many.

"Well, it doesn't seem to bother him about your past experiences."

Gabriella began to blush at Sharpay's comment and Taylor shot her a dirty look.

"What?"

"Sharpay, I don't really have much experience."

"I'm sure you don't, compared to him but…"

"Sharpay, aren't you getting what Gabriella's saying. She doesn't have experience like that."

"Well…wait you mean you're a…you've never…I mean you haven't…"

"Yes Sharpay, I haven't…"

"But…wait, Taylor how come you knew and I didn't."

"She didn't tell me Sharpay, I could tell from the ring she was wearing."

Gabriella looked down at her ring and starting spinning it around on her finger again.

"What's that ring have to do with anything?"

"Shar, it's a purity ring."

"Oh…so you mean you're actually going to wait."

"That's the idea Sharpay."

Sharpay jut had a confused look on her face and couldn't really understand what she was hearing. "Why?"

Taylor just rolled her eyes at Sharpay. "Gabi, you don't need to tell us anything that you don't want to."

"It's ok Taylor, maybe it will make me feel better if I talk about it. You know how my parents are divorced and everything." Taylor and Sharpay both nodded their heads. "Well I haven't really told you everything about that. My parents have known each other most of their lives and started seeing each other in high school."

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"Sharpay would you just let her continue with her story."

"Fine."

"Anyway, they started going out in high school and let's just say that this is what you could get," Gabriella pointed at herself, "when you go to a party and get drunk and don't realize what you're doing."

"So you were born when your parents were still in high school?"

"Yeah, and let's just say my mom regrets having me and taking away her years that she felt she should have been able to go out and have fun."

"Gabi, you can't believe that."

"Taylor I live with my dad because of it. My mom just completely ignored me after she got remarried and started having the family that she really wanted. I finally couldn't take it anymore and convinced my dad to let me live with him."

"Maybe you're putting too much into that."

"I moved in with my dad when I was in the 7th grade and I can probably count how many times I've talked to my mom since then just using my fingers."

"That's awful."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry Gabi, but what's all that have to do with your purity ring?"

"I just became really afraid that I would end up just like her and I never wanted to put a child through that, so I decided the best way to keep that from happening is to just wait."

"Wow, and I'm assuming Troy doesn't know anything about this?"

"No, and I'm not sure I want to tell him. He's definitely not going to wait for me so I think I should probably just stop this before it gets started."

"Gabriella, I really think you should talk to Troy about this. I mean you never know. He may understand where you're coming from and not pressure you or anything. You don't want to give up on someone because you don't think they'd understand."

"Maybe you're right Taylor. I need to get to class. Thanks for listening."

Gabriella picked up her tray and headed out of the food court. She had a lot to think about after talking to the girls. At first she wasn't planning on telling Troy anything and just tell him they should be friends, but now she wasn't sure what she should do.

Later that day Gabriella walking back to the dorms after her last class. She decided she might as well talk to Troy about what was going on, or at least find out exactly what he was expecting from her. As she was walking down the hill that lead to the dorm building Gabriella noticed Troy not too far ahead of her, she was about to call out to him when she noticed another girl run up to him. She watched as he put his arms around her and she quit trying to catch up to him. She noticed him pull her closer as they continued walking into the building and the big smile that seemed to be on his face. She decided to go in the back way to avoid running in to him.

A couple of hours later Gabriella was sitting alone in her room and didn't know what to do. She had planned to go down to Troy's room to talk to him, but wasn't sure that was a good idea now. The last thing she wanted was to go over there and find another girl in his room. After a few more minutes of sitting around she decided she didn't want to stay in her room so she made her way down to the lounge. Gabriella took a seat on one of the couches that were in the room and grabbed a magazine and started flipping through it. She then noticed a voice that she recognized coming towards the room. She dropped further into the couch so she couldn't be seen.

"Thanks for a fun afternoon Tiffany."

"It was my pleasure Troy. We should really do it again sometime."

Gabriella felt like gagging and couldn't believe that she was considering giving Troy a chance. The voices were soon gone and Gabriella assumed that they were gone so she sat back up only to see Troy still standing there. She tried to drop back down but it was too late.

"Gabriella."

Gabriella decided there was no point in hiding anymore so she sat back up. "Hey Troy."

"Hi, what are you doing in here?"

"Didn't feel like sitting in my room anymore. Didn't have any homework to do and didn't find anything interesting on TV so I came down here."

"Oh."

Gabriella couldn't believe him. Oh was all he had to say. He had to realize that she had just heard everything that went on between him and his little friend.

"Yeah, so what have you been up today?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I heard you talking to someone while I was lying down."

Troy started rubbing the back of his neck. "Oh Tiffany, right…She's a friend of mine. We met last year when we both started here."

"I see."

"Gabriella, there's nothing between us, I mean there's nothing between us now."

"If you say so Troy, I've got to go back to my room."

"But you said you had nothing to do, why don't we hang out."

"I think you've done enough hanging out today Troy." Gabriella got up from the couch and made her way to the hallway that would take her to her room but Troy grabbed her arm.

"Gabi, what are you talking about. Nothing was going on between Tiffany and me."

Gabriella just rolled her eyes at Troy. "Do you really want me to believe the two of you were just hanging out in your room and nothing happened?"

"Gabi, we were hanging out in my room the other night and nothing happened."

"If I remember correctly Troy before I left you were hoping something would happen."

"Gabriella why don't we just go get something to eat and we can talk about this."

"I don't want to get something to eat right now."

"Ok, then let's just sit down and talk."

"I don't want to talk right now either. So why don't you just go eat."

"Ok, but if you want to talk I'm not going to hide anything from you."

"Fine."

Troy headed out of the building and Gabriella just stood there for a few seconds not sure whether or not to believe Troy that nothing happened between him and Tiffany. They looked rather comfortable together to think that nothing was going on between them, but then again why would he lie to her now about this. He hadn't been shy about telling her everything else about his life, but that all seemed to be in the past when he didn't know her. Maybe he didn't want her to know that he may have someone else in his life since she wasn't well doing anything with him. Gabriella decided she didn't want to think about Troy or Tiffany anymore so she went back to her room and changed her clothes and went to the gym.

to be continued...


	9. Chapter 9

**Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it. I finished writting this story so updates may be quicker. Thanks to everyone who's been reading.**

Chapter 9

Once Gabriella got to the gym she went straight to the weight room and used all the machines that Troy showed her. After going through each machine twice she decided to go to the tread mill again. Before she got on she grabbed towel to take with her to wipe off her sweat. She started off walking at first and then decided she had more energy to burn off so she sped the machine up and started running. About twenty-five minutes later Gabriella slowed the machine back down and finished off her workout with a slow walk. A couple minutes later she stopped it all together and went and got a spray bottle to wipe off the machine. Then she made her way into the locker room to get herself cleaned up so she could get something to eat before she went back to her room.

After she left the gym she made her way to the food court. She felt extra hungry after that workout and knew her legs would definitely be feeling that tomorrow. Right before she got to the door that led her inside she saw Troy and Tiffany walking out of the building together.

"Good grief, didn't he get enough this afternoon." Gabriella decided she wasn't going to run away this time and kept going towards the door that they just walked out of even though she knew she'd have to pass them.

Troy noticed Gabriella coming towards them and realized what she must be thinking. "Tiffany I really need you to do something for me."

"Troy, can't this wait until we get back to your room."

That's the first thing Gabriella heard as she got closer to them and she just rolled her eyes and kept talking. "Wait Gabriella, it's not what you think."

"Sure it isn't Troy."

She went straight in the building without even looking back at the two of them. Troy just stood there in shock. "Why did you say that?"

"What do you mean Troy? I know what you want."

"No you don't, so why don't you just go."

"But I thought we were going back to your room and kicking your roommate out."

"Well you thought wrong, now stay away from me."

Tiffany was shocked and didn't know why Troy was acting this way. They seemed to have a good time hanging out this afternoon. They hadn't really done anything but she assumed they were going to that night. She noticed he seemed distracted when she saw him in the food court but decided to go u to him anyway. She noticed that Troy was going back towards the food court then.

"Where are you going?"

"That's really none of your business." Troy said not even bothering looking back at her.

Once he got back to the food court he began looking around for Gabriella. He couldn't see her anywhere and then noticed her walking out the back door so he started walking as fast as he could to catch up to her.

"Gabriella wait up." Gabriella turned around when she heard her name being called but just ignored him and kept walking. He eventually was able to catch up to her.

"Gabi, we really need to talk."

"There's nothing for us to talk about Troy."

"Gabi, I don't know what you think is going on between Tiffany and me, but there isn't anything going on."

"That's not what it sounded like Troy."

"I'm telling you the truth, I'll admit Tiffany and I were close last year, but that was then and this is now."

"Whatever Troy."

Gabriella tried to walk away from him, but he just continued to stay with her. "Are you jealous or something?"

This got Gabriella to stop and she just stared at him. "Jealous? Of her?"

"That's what it seems to me. Are you jealous that she's been with me and you haven't?"

Gabriella couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was the first time she'd ever heard Troy being so cocky about himself. She decided she wasn't even going to dignify that with a response and just walked away from him. He decided to keep up with her though.

"So, we're still on for the gym and everything on Sunday right?"

Gabriella just kept walking and got inside the dorm building and made her way to her room with Troy still following her.

"Hello, are you going to say something?"

She again just kept walking until she got to her room and unlocked it and closed the door in his face. He just stood there and then started knocking on the door.

"Gabriella, open up. Let's talk about this."

There was no movement in the room, so Troy tried the door and realized she never locked it so he let himself in. As soon as he got in he saw a death glare being shot at him.

"Do you always walk into other people's rooms without being invited?"

"Maybe."

"Well get out. I don't want you in here."

"Then tell me why you're mad at me."

"Why do you think? You said that I was jealous of that girl friend of yours."

"She's not my girlfriend Gabriella."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I guess you thought of her more as a toy that you got tired of."

"Gabriella that's enough."

"Then why don't you just leave."

"Fine, I will, but when you're ready to talk you know where to find me." He then went back to the door and closed it behind himself.

After that Gabriella didn't know what to think about Troy. She couldn't believe he said she was jealous of that girl. The more she thought of it maybe she had been a little bit. It didn't bother her when she found out about Troy's past, but maybe she was a little bothered to think something was going on with another girl now that they had met, especially after they had been spending so much time together.

Come Friday Gabriella didn't really have anything to do. The one class she had got cancelled because of the bad storms that had started the night before. It wasn't a hurricane or anything, but Gabriella had never seen a storm this strong before so it sure seemed like it to her. She didn't really like to be alone, but Sharpay and Taylor were both in class, and because the storm had gotten stronger they recommended that everyone stay in the building they were in. After another strong gust of wind came up against her window she decided that her room was the last place she really wanted to stay. She grabbed a few things and made her way out into the hallway. She found herself in the lounge but there wasn't anyone in there either. She didn't really want to sit through the rest of this storm by herself. She then looked down another hallway.

"Well, what's the worst thing that could happen?" Gabriella made her way down the hallway and found herself standing in front of Troy's door. She wasn't sure whether or not to knock but a loud crack of thunder convinced her to and she was soon staring into Troy's blue eyes.

"Gabi, what are you doing here?"

"Well, Taylor and Sharpay are in class this storm seems to be getting bad and…"

"You didn't want to be by yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Come on in." Troy stepped out of the way for her to walk into his room.

"Thanks."

The two just stood there for a few minutes before Troy decided to speak up. "So, have you always been afraid of storms?"

"Not really, this just seems to be a really strong one."

"You haven't seen a strong storm until you've seen a hurricane."

"Can't wait."

They just stood there trying to avoid staring at each for what seemed like hours before Troy decided to get things out in the open with Gabriella. "Gabi, I think we should really talk."

"About what?"

"About what's been going between us. You've got to know there isn't anything going on between Tiffany and me. That was over a long time ago. We just ran into each other the other day and that's why we were talking."

"It seemed to me that she wanted to do more than talk."

"Maybe she did, but you need to know that I didn't. Nothing happened between Tiffany and me this week in the way you're thinking."

"Ok." There's was another loud crack of thunder then that had Gabriella run into Troy's arms. "Sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry about. I like having you in my arms."

Gabriella soon moved back and Troy already missed her being that close to him. "Gabi, if you're not interested in being with me would you just say it."

"What?"

"You have to know that I'm interested in you. I've been spending all this time with you, I've asked you out, and you just don't seem to be as in to me as I am with you."

Gabriella wasn't sure how to respond to that. He flat out told her that he wanted to be with her and she was just standing there. "Troy, I enjoy spending time with you to."

"That's not what I was asking Gabriella, I was asking if you wanted to be with me."

"What do mean? Do I want to go out with you again, do I want to be your girlfriend, or do I want to have sex with you?

Troy just looked at her and smiled. "Well maybe we can do all three." He then started walking closer to her and she took a few steps back which took the smile back off his face. "What's the matter?"

"Troy, I would be willing to go out with you again, and maybe even being you girlfriend at some point, but I'm not going to have sex with you."

Troy just stood there with a shocked look on his face. He had never had someone actually turn him down like this. "Gabi, we don't have to have sex right now, if you want to wait awhile to spend more time together we can."

"Troy, I don't care how much time we spend together. I'm not going to have sex with you."

"Ok, Gabi, I'm the confused one now. Why are you saying you won't have sex with me?"

Gabriella just stood there with her arms crossed and then unfolded them and lifted her hand up that had her ring on it for Troy to see. "What does that ring have to do with anything? I know you're not engaged or something because you said you'd go out with me and that you didn't have a boyfriend at home."

"Troy, I don't think you'd understand."

"Wouldn't understand what?"

Gabriella just rolled her eyes, "Troy it's a purity ring."

Troy just started at the ring for awhile longer not really processing what she was saying. "Ok, but still what does it have to do with…wait…purity as in…"

"I think you're getting the point."

"So you actually think you can wait until you're married?"

"I don't think it Troy, I know I'm going to. So I guess I will understand if you told me to get lost or you just started ignoring me now."

Troy just stood there, now staring out the window, and didn't say anything. Gabriella took this a sign that he would prefer her to leave now so she started walking to the door. As soon as she had it open she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Don't go."

"I don't think there is anything left to say."

"I think there is, so please stay so we can talk."

Gabriella smiled and closed the door and the two sat down and she decided it was time to fill him in on everything that she had been reluctant to tell him.

to be continued...


	10. Chapter 10

**Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it. Thanks to everyone who has been reading. Feel free to review!**

Chapter 10

Gabriella and Troy were still sitting in his dorm room. She had just finished telling Troy everything about her childhood and life back in Texas that she had kept from him.

"So now do you understand where I'm coming from?"

"I guess so. I just have never known anyone who actually made the decision to wait until they were married. I'm sorry for what you had to go through though. No one should have their mother treat them like that."

"There's no changing what happened. I've gotten through it, and I've been happy with my life since I moved in with my dad."

"Yeah, but it must have been tough making this decision. I mean teenage hormones can be rough."

Gabriella started giggling at that comment which put a smile on Troy's face. "I guess, but it was a choice I wanted to make. It's not like it was forced on me, or that I was told to do this. If either of my parents made me make this choice they would have looked like a couple of hypocrites."

"That's true, but haven't you ever been tempted?"

"Not really, I had one boyfriend when I was a junior and when I thought things were getting too serious or that he was going to bring up the subject of sex I decided to end it."

"What happened?"

"Well, I broke up with him and then we talked afterwards and he understood where I was coming from. We decided though that it would best to be friends. I haven't really talked to him much since graduation."

"Wow, I couldn't imagine anything like that."

"I didn't think you could. Troy I understand if you want to just be friends with me so you can find someone else that may be willing to be with you more than I am."

The two stood there for a couple of minutes in silence. "Gabriella, I don't want anyone else."

"Troy, I just have a feeling that eventually you're going to get bored of me."

"Not possible."

There was another loud crack of thunder and Gabriella was back in Troy's arms which caused another smile to appear on Troy's face and this time she didn't back away.

"It's getting late, do you want to stay here with me tonight. I mean you can sleep in my bed and I'll take the floor."

"Don't you think Zeke will be getting back soon?"

"Who know when he'll be back, but if you are nervous from the storm I don't want you to be alone."

Gabriella just smiled at Troy. "Ok, I think I will stay then. Are you sure you want to give up your bed?"

"I'm not going to make you sleep on the floor. I have an extra pillow and blanket in the drawer and I'll be set." Troy said as he walked over to get his blanket and pillow and Gabriella took off her shoes and got on Troy's bed.

"Good night Troy."

"Are you going to sleep already?"

Gabriella sat back up. "I guess, why?"

"I thought we could talk more."

"About what?"

"Anything and everything."

"Troy, I think we've talked about everything. We must know everything about each other already."

"Doesn't stop me from wanting to know more."

"You're crazy, Troy."

"Maybe, but I think I'm crazy about you."

Gabriella just smiled at him and then put her hand behind his head and pulled him into a kiss. Troy was thrilled. This was the first time she had initiated a kiss between them. He didn't want it to end, but he didn't want her thinking that he was going to try and get her to go further with it, so he made sure he was the one that pulled back. After the kiss ended they just smiled at each other as Troy was rubbing the pad of his thumb against Gabriella's cheek.

"Good night Gabriella."

"Good night Troy."

Gabriella laid back down and Troy did the same and they both fell asleep. Neither of them heard the door open a couple of hours later. Zeke had finally been able to get back to the dorm and was ready to get some sleep. Once he walked in he noticed Troy sleeping on the floor and was really confused. He then looked up at his bed and saw someone was in it, he then took a better looked and realized it was Gabriella.

"Wow, didn't expect to see that."

He grabbed a few of his things and headed to the bathroom. Once he came back to the room he climbed into his own bed and went to sleep.

The next morning Gabriella was the first one to wake up and looked down at Troy still sleeping. She couldn't help but smile at him as he laid there with his mouth half open. She then looked across the room and realized that they weren't alone in the room anymore.

"I'd assume he wouldn't think that we were doing anything since Troy's sleeping on the floor." She quietly got up from the bed and tried not to wake anyone. She was getting her shoes on when she heard a noise come out of Troy. Gabriella looked down at him and could tell that he was waking up.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

"Back to my room, I didn't want to wake you up."

"Well it's a good thing I woke up myself then. You don't have to leave."

"Zeke's back, I'd rather not be here when he wakes up and starts asking questions."

"Gabi, he's going to know that we didn't do anything. Good grief, I was sleeping on the floor even."

"I guess, but I'd still rather not be around."

"Ok, well let me grab my flip flops and I'll walk back with you."

Gabriella just smiled at him as he started reaching underneath his bed to find his shoes. Once he got both of them out he slipped them on and grabbed Gabriella's hand and walked out of the room with her. There were a few people standing in the hallway and saw them walking out of the room. Gabriella could tell by the looks on their faces what they were thinking.

"Great, they think we…"

"Gabriella, it doesn't matter what they think. We know the truth."

"True, but the last thing I want to hear is gossip that isn't true about us."

"Don't worry about it. It's not that big of a deal."

The two continued to walk down the hall and finally made their way to Gabriella's room. Once they got there Gabriella turned to Troy before going in. "Thanks for letting me stay with you last night."

"No need to thank me, I was glad to do it."

"I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, maybe we can go get something to eat or something."

"You're on."

After Troy left Gabriella walked into her room and noticed her phone sitting on the bed. She grabbed it and noticed she had a lot of missed calls and most of them were from her dad. She decided she might as well give him a call to make sure everything was alright.

"Hello?"

"Dad, it's Gabi, is everything ok?"

"Yeah, I was calling up to check on you. Why didn't you answer your phone?"

"I forgot it in my room. We had a really bad storm here yesterday and I stayed in one of my friend's rooms last night so I wouldn't have to sit in my room by myself during it."

"Well, I'm glad you're ok. How is everything then?"

"Good, I'm really enjoying being more than I thought I would. A friend of mine even has me going to the gym."

"Wow, something your own old man couldn't get you to do. How did this friend manage?"

"He went to church with me last Sunday and then decided that since he went with me, I should go with him to the gym."

"He?"

"I mean…well yeah, he."

"So you have a boyfriend?"

"Well, I'm not sure if you could call him my boyfriend. He's a guy that's a friend I guess."

"You don't know?"

"We haven't really decided yet dad, but I promise he's a really nice guy."

"Don't worry Gabi, you know I trust you."

"Thanks, so how's Michelle?"

"She's doing great. She's been pretty emotional though. She's really missing you, but she says she doesn't want to talk to you because if she hears your voice she would just miss you even more."

"Oh, well you tell her I love her and I miss her to. I'll be sure to send her a long email telling her everything that's been going on. Maybe I'll take my camera with me today so I can take pictures of everything so she can see everything I see."

"She'd really like that Gabi."

"Ok, well I'm going to get going. Say hi to grandma and granddad for me."

"I will. I'll call you later."

"Ok, I love you dad."

"I love you to."

After Gabriella hung out the phone she walked over to her desk and pulled one of the drawers open and got her camera out. She realized the battery was dead so she put it on the charger and then grabbed some fresh clothes and went to take a shower. A couple of hours later there was a knock on her door.

"Gabi, are you ready to go get some lunch?"

"Yeah, come on in Troy I just need a couple more minutes."

Troy walked in and saw Gabriella putting some stuff in a bag and then taking her camera off the charger. "What with the camera?"

"I got off the phone with my dad and it seems Michelle's gotten pretty emotional and misses me so I said I'd take pictures of everything and send them to her."

"I see." Troy started walking up to Gabriella and grabbed the camera from her hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Well I figured the first thing she should definitely see is the really hot guy you have around you." He quickly took a picture of himself before handing the camera back to Gabriella.

"Thanks, she'll be thrilled to see a picture of a goof ball."

Troy's jaw dropped and got a hurt look on his face. "You can't really mean that?"

Gabriella could tell he was joking so she decided to play along. "Sure do, now do you still want to go get something to eat?"

"Well, I guess." Gabriella walked up to him and gave him a playful punch in the arm.

"I'm sorry Troy." Troy then got a huge smile on his face.

"Ok, now we can go."

On their way to the food court Troy took the camera away from Gabriella again and started taking all sorts of pictures of her. "Troy, don't' use up all the room on the camera in the first ten minutes."

"This thing must hold a thousand pictures. I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Gabriella just rolled her eyes and took the camera back from Troy. She was getting a little annoyed by all the girls that seemed to be waving at Troy on their way. She wasn't sure if these girls were from his past or just girls trying to flirt with him. Troy waved back at them, but didn't seem to be interested in talking with them. They finally got to the food court and got their food and found Chad, Zeke, Sharpay, and Taylor all sitting at a table so they decided to join them.

"Hi guys."

"Hey you two, you guys were lucky by not getting stuck in class yesterday during that storm. There is nothing more uncomfortable then sitting in a classroom for that long with really nothing to do. Even cell service was weak."

"I guess at least we had comfortable surroundings."

"Yeah you guys sure did." Zeke said with a wink towards Troy.

The rest of the day the six of them went walking around campus and taking pictures with Gabriella camera. Troy made sure he and Gabriella were next to each other in each group picture. They didn't have any problem finding someone to take a picture of all them. Gabriella also seemed to notice that Troy was getting one of the others to take a lot of pictures of just the two of them. Later that night Gabriella was sitting at her desk and had her camera plugged into her lap top. She kept going through all the pictures trying to decide which pictures to send to Michelle. She didn't notice just how many pictures she had taken with just Troy until she saw them. Gabriella wasn't sure if she should send all those to Michelle because she didn't want them thinking something that wasn't entirely true. After choosing about fifty of the pictures she wanted to send she got a message composed and the pictures attached she hit the send button so Michelle would see what she was up to. She decided that she might as well go to bed after she finished emailing a few of her other friends as it seemed tomorrow she had plans with a certain young man to go to church and then to the gym.

to be continued...

feel free to review!


	11. Chapter 11

**Here's chapter 11. Sorry about the mix up.**

Chapter 11

Over the next couple of months Gabriella and Troy continued to spend time together. She still wasn't Troy's girlfriend since he never asked her, but if you asked anyone else they'd tell you they were seeing each other. Troy hadn't really been spending time with any other girls, at least Gabriella didn't think he was, because there wasn't any time for him to. Gabriella was walking down the hall towards her last class when she felt her phone starting to vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and saw that she had a new text from her dad.

"baby's coming calling you later."

Gabriella really wanted to call them, but knew they really didn't have time for that right now so she decided to just wait for their call. Before she got to her classroom she ran into one of her class mates, John.

"Hey Gabi, how do you think you did on the test the other day?"

"Alright I guess, it was harder than one I thought it would be."

"Too true, I'm nervous about getting it back. What's with the big smile on your face?"

"Oh, I just got a message from my dad, my step-mom's about to have her baby."

"Congrats, I bet you're looking forward to break more now."

"Oh yeah, I can't want to see the little guy."

Troy walked out of his classroom and noticed Gabriella talking to this guy. He quickly walked up to them and put his arm around Gabriella's shoulder, which caught Gabriella off guard. "Hey Gabi, what's going on?"

"Troy what are you doing?"

"I just got out of class down the hall, what's going on here?"

"Oh, this is John. We're both in this class. We were just talking about the test we had the other day."

Troy kind of started to feel better after hearing this. He didn't like the idea of guys he didn't know talking to Gabriella. "Oh."

"Yeah, we both thought it was tough but Gabriella here probably aced it. Then she'll have two things to celebrate today."

Troy had a confused look on his face. "Two things?"

"Michelle went into labor. Maybe by tonight I'll have a baby brother."

"That's great, how did John know?" Troy kept shooting glares at John.

"Oh, we were talking about the test when I got the text from my dad. I just wish this class was already over."

"Maybe he won't keep us the entire day. Or we could at least hope."

"Hey, I'm done for the today so how about I wait for you and then we can walk back to the dorm together or go and get something to eat."

"Troy you're done for the day, you don't have to stick around."

"It's no big deal. I can actually get some homework done while I wait. If I go back to the dorm or something I'll find something to distract me from getting this stuff done."

"Well if you want to, ok. I'll see you in about an hour."

"I'll be over at that table."

"Ok."

Troy shot John one more glare before he walked over to the table. "Is he your boyfriend or something?"

Gabriella looked from Troy to John. "No we're just friends, well I think."

"You don't know?"

"Not really. We hang out together a lot and we've been out on some dates, but he's never really officially asked me to be his girlfriend."

"What is he thinking then?"

Gabriella just shrugged her shoulders and the two of them walked into the classroom. After class Gabriella walked back out of the room and saw Troy sitting down at the table that he said he would be at. He seemed to be concentrating on a book. She quickly walked over to him and sat down in the chair next to him, and he didn't seem to notice her there.

"Hey Troy."

Troy looked up from his book and over at Gabriella. "Oh hey, is class already over?

"Yeah, we got out a little early, but you seemed really into your book there."

Troy looked down at the book and the closed it and put it back in his backpack. "Oh yeah, I have to get a couple of chapters read before class next week."

"Well if you would rather finish your reading you can. I can wait by myself."

"No way, I want to be there with you when you get this news."

"Then let's go grab some food and take it back to the dorm and hang out. I know I'm going to be so tempted to call home though."

"I don't think your dad or Michelle will be answering right now Gabs."

Gabriella started laughing. "I guess but I could call my grandma."

"Gabi, I'm sure you'll be called as soon as they find something out."

"Ok, let's go get some food. I'm hungry."

The two made their way to the food court and each got what they wanted along with a bag to put it all in. When Gabriella was looking at the fruit that was laid out, she noticed some girl walk up to Troy. She tried to ignore it but kept looking back at the two of them. Troy didn't seem as into the conversation at this girl so she was glad about that. After getting everything she wanted she made her way to the two of them.

"Troy, you definitely need to come with me right now, I need you so much, and I mean right now."

Gabriella couldn't believe what she was hearing and could tell by the look on Troy's face that he didn't want her around. She quickly came up beside Troy and wrapped her arm through his and then grabbed his hand.

"Hey Troy, did you get everything you wanted?"

Troy just looked over at Gabriella. "Yeah, I'm ready, let's get back to your room."

"Yeah."

"Troy…" Troy turned around back to the girl that was talking to him.

"Oh, bye Lindsey." Troy then turned away from her and went to the cashier with Gabriella.

After they paid for the food and grabbed a couple of bags to carry their food back to the dorm in they walked out the back door of the food court.

"Gabi, what was that?"

"What was what?"

"Were you jealous back there?"

"You're kidding I hope."

"You were totally jealous."

"No I wasn't."

"I think you were."

"Fine, I was just as jealous back there as you were when you caught me talking to John earlier."

Troy just looked at her. "Fine, I'm not afraid to admit it. I was jealous of that guy talking to you."

"Ah, I knew it."

"Yeah, well that means you were jealous just then."

"Ok, ok, I was jealous of you talking to that girl or at least I was when I heard what she was saying to you."

"It definitely wasn't something I wanted to happen."

Gabriella smiled at him and then took his hand into her's. After they finished their food Gabriella kept looking at her phone.

"Gabi, a watched phone never rings."

"I don't need some wise sayings right now Troy. I'm really nervous."

"Babe, they'll call you as soon as it happens."

Gabriella just stared at him for a couple of minutes. "What did you call me?"

Troy had a look on his face like he was trying to figure out what he had just said and then started blushing. "I'm sorry Gabi, I didn't mean to."

"No, it's ok, it's just the first time you've ever called me that."

"Well, then maybe I'll call you that more often."

"Maybe you should."

Gabriella started leaning into Troy and he was thrilled that she was initiating a kiss. These past couple of months he seemed to be the one who initiated any type of kiss they would have. Before Gabriella could connect her lips to Troy's her phone rang and she jumped back and went running towards it. Troy just rubbed his face and was a little annoyed that the phone had to ring then, but knew this was something Gabriella had been waiting for since he met her.

"Hello…dad?"

"He's here Gabi, your brother is here."

Gabriella couldn't help but let out a scream which caused Troy to cover his ears.

"How is he, how's Michelle? Did everything go ok?"

"Everyone is fine Gabi, and he's perfectly healthy."

"That's fantastic. Now come on, give me the name. You guys did come up with one by now didn't you?"

"Yes we got a name. His name is Matthew Jacob."

"Oh that's great. I've never wanted Thanksgiving to get here as fast as I do right now."

"You only have another couple of weeks Gabi, and you will be getting daily pictures I bet. As soon as I can I'll get a picture on my phone and send it to you."

"Ok, tell Michelle I love her."

"Ok, I'll talk to you later honey."

"Bye dad."

Gabriella hung up the phone and looked over at Troy. "Well?"

"Michelle and my brother are both perfect."

"That's great, so what's his name?"

"Matthew Jacob."

"Matthew…Matt. I like that."

"I do to. Oh I can't wait for break."

About an hour later Gabriella got a message from her dad with a picture of Matt. Gabriella couldn't tell who he seemed to look like, but she always had trouble trying to figure how which parent a baby looked like. Later on that night Troy made his way back to his own room and Gabriella got online to chat with some of her high school friends, and tell them the news.

Back in Troy's room he was trying to read more of his homework while he had the room to himself, but his mind kept going back to the girl that lived on the other side of the building. "What is wrong with you Troy? Why don't you just ask her to be your girlfriend? You know why Troy, you're afraid that you'll start to pressure her to do something she doesn't want to do. This way you're not in a serious relationship with her so those ideas aren't always on your mind like they would be if she was your girlfriend."

Just then Zeke walked into the room. "Who were you talking to?"

Troy looked up at the door and closed his book. "No one, I guess I was just thinking out loud."

"About what, or do I even need to ask?"

"No, you know who I'm thinking about."

"Troy just ask her out already. She's going to say yes."

"I think she would do, but I'm just afraid to."

"I never thought I would hear the day that Troy Bolton was afraid of something or someone."

"I just don't want to hurt her."

"Well, you don't know what will happen unless you ask her. You may be able to make her and you for that matter happier than either one of you have ever been."

Troy thought about what Zeke said and realized he could be right. He would never know if he didn't try, and he knew he would do everything he could think of not to hurt her.

to be continued...


	12. Chapter 12

**Here's the next chapter. I hope you like it. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing. I appreciate it.**

Chapter 12

It was the day before everyone was heading home for Thanksgiving break. Troy still hadn't been able to get himself to ask Gabriella to be his girlfriend, but he was determined to before they left the next day. After he finished some homework that he had for his class the next day he walked down to Gabriella's room and knocked on her door.

"Come in."

Troy walked in and saw Gabriella filling up her suit case for her trip home. "You've got everything you need in there?"

"Yeah, I can't believe that tomorrow morning I'll be meeting my baby brother."

This caught Troy off guard. "How are you already going to be home tomorrow morning?"

Gabriella turned back towards Troy and realized she hadn't told him. "That's right, you don't know yet. My class got cancelled for tomorrow. Seems the professor wanted to start her Thanksgiving holiday a little early so she called off all her Friday classes. After I found out I was able to get a ticket on a flight home tonight. I actually have to be going soon."

Troy just stood there shocked. This wasn't the way he had planned for this to happen. He wanted to ask her to be his girlfriend and then talk with her for the rest of the night. Not ask her and then have her rush off to go home.

"Troy is something wrong? Did you want something?"

"What? Oh no, I just finished up my homework for tomorrow so I thought I'd come down here and see if you wanted to hang out, but I can see you're busy."

"Well, if you want and if you wouldn't mind, I could use a ride to the airport. I was going to come down and ask you but if you don't want to…"

"Of course I'll take you."

Gabriella smiled at Troy and went and gave him a hug. "Thank you, I'm just really excited about going home."

"I know you've been looking forward to this. Do you have someone picking you up at the airport once you get home?"

"Yeah, my granddad is going to meet me there."

"Good, wouldn't want you to get there and have no one waiting for you."

"I really like that you worry about me."

"Yeah yeah, well if you're ready to go I'll go get my car keys."

"Yeah, I've got everything I need so let's go."

Gabriella and Troy walked out of her room and back down to his room so he could get his car keys. A few minutes later they were in the parking lot loading Gabriella's bags into Troy's trunk. Once they got to the airport Troy helped Gabriella get her bags inside before he had to leave her.

"You have a good time with your family."

"I will Troy, and you have a safe trip to."

"Be sure to email me some pictures of you and Matt. I'm looking forward to seeing some updated ones."

"Don't worry, you'll be one of the first people I'll email them to."

Troy gave her a quick kiss, and wished that he had asked her but knew this wasn't the right time. He figured it could wait until after break, but he sure was planning on doing it before they were separated again for Christmas break.

"I'll call you tomorrow Troy to let you know that I got there, because I know that is what you were going to ask me."

"No, I wasn't."

Gabriella got a shocked look on her face. "You weren't?"

"I was going to tell you to call me tonight as soon as you land. I don't care what time it is."

"Troy it's an hour later here than it is there."

"I don't care, you just be sure to call."

"Ok, but I don't want to hear a mad person on the phone if they get wakened up."

"You won't."

Gabriella turned away from Troy to head up to the counter but she quickly turned back around a pulled Troy in for a kiss.

"Bye."

"Bye."

She finally made her way to the counter and Troy headed back out to his car. "Dang it Troy, now you're going to have to wait over a week before you can ask her this. You've got to quit chickening out and just do it." He then started his car up and headed back to the campus.

A few hours later Troy was lying in bed watching TV while Zeke was asleep. He kept looking down at his phone waiting for Gabriella to call. He had put it on vibrate to keep it from waking Zeke up. About twenty minutes later right when he was about to fall asleep he started feeling his phone vibrate. He quickly grabbed it and hit the accept button.

"Hello? Gabi?"

"Yeah Troy it's me. Let me guess I woke you up."

"No, I was awake, well kind of awake I guess."

"Well then I'm just going to tell you I'm here and I'm waiting for my bags so I can get out of here. You go to sleep now."

"Ok, thanks for calling Gabi. I'll call you tomorrow after I get home."

"Ok, goodnight Troy."

"Talk to you tomorrow, babe." Troy hung up his phone and immediately drifted off to sleep.

After getting her bags from the carousel Gabriella went outside where she immediately ran into her granddad.

"There my little girl."

"Hey granddad." Gabriella was pulled into a huge bear hug.

"I've missed you. I should have never supported you on going to school so far away."

"Granddad, you were thrilled with my college choice."

"Back then I was, but now that you've been gone, I'm not so sure anymore."

Gabriella smiled at her grandfather and the two made their way to his car and he told her all about the baby and everything that had been going on. She heard most of these stories already, but was fine with hearing them again. About a half hour later they pulled up to Gabriella's house.

"Are you coming in?"

"No it's getting late. I'll just wait to make sure you get in and then I'm going to be heading home."

"Ok, thanks for picking me up."

"You're welcome princess. I'll see you later."

Gabriella got out of the car and made her way to the front door and pulled the key out of her purse. The front door light was on so she didn't have any trouble searching. As soon as she got inside she was met by her dad, and a big hug that had her up in the air spinning around.

"I've been waiting all night for you to get home."

"I've missed you to dad. Is Michelle already asleep?"

"Yeah, she usually gets up at three with Matt to feed him so she gets to bed kind of early."

"Sleep actually sounds really good right now."

"Do you want to take a peek at your little brother first?"

Gabriella was contemplating this. She wasn't sure if she wanted to see him now or wait until he was awake because she knew she'd want to hold him and the last thing she wanted to do this late was wake him up. "I think I'll wait until morning dad. The last thing I want to do is wake him up and causing Michelle to wake up to."

"Ok, let's head upstairs." David turned some lights off and then grabbed Gabriella's bag for her. After they got up to her room David se the bag on the floor and gave Gabriella another hug before going back to his own room.

"Wow, it feels good to be back here."

Gabriella just walked around her room for a few minutes touching everything that she could. She soon realized how tired she was and changed into her pajamas and went to bed.

The next morning Gabriella woke up and made her way down stairs where she saw the rest of her family sitting in the kitchen. As soon as Michelle saw her she got a huge smile on her face and got up from her seat and ran straight to Gabriella.

"You're home! I'm so sorry I didn't wait up for you last night."

"It's ok, I understand you need to get some sleep whenever you get a chance to."

"That's the truth. Now you get over here and meet your little brother."

Gabriella followed Michelle over to the table where David was holding the baby, who was wide awake.

"Gabi, meet your little brother Matt."

"Hi Matt." Gabriella didn't know what else to say to him. It's not like he was going to understand her anyway. Michelle took the baby from David and gently set him in Gabriella's arms. Gabriella was thrilled and found it to be one of her highest accomplishments that he didn't start crying as soon as she took him.

"He's so cute."

"Would you like to give him the rest of his bottle?"

Gabriella looked up at Michelle and the bottle she had in her hand. "I think I'll pass this time, but I'll definitely do it soon."

Gabriella decided to hand Matt back to Michelle so he could finish his breakfast before he started getting fussy, and the three of them sat there talking about everything they had missed over the last few months.

to be continued...


	13. Chapter 13

**Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it. Thanks to everyone's who's been reading and for the reviews.**

Chapter 13

Later that morning David had to run into the office and Michelle put Matt down for his nap. After he was she went back down to the living room to join Gabriella.

"Well, now that he's asleep and your dad's at work we can talk."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"What do you think I want to talk about? That boy who seems to be in all those picture you've been sending me. What's his name again, Troy?"

Gabriella couldn't help but blush when Michelle brought him up. "Yes, his name's Troy, and he just a good friend."

"Just a good friend?"

Gabriella could tell by the look on Michelle's face that she didn't believe that. "A really really really good friend."

"Oh come on Gabi, are you trying to tell me this guy isn't your boyfriend? You're dad's not here so you won't be getting any lectures, and if you don't want him to know about it, he won't hear it from me."

"I'm telling you the truth Michelle. Troy and I are just friends. We've gone out and spent a lot of time together, but he's never brought up making it official or anything, and I'm not going to bring it up and having the possibility of embarrassing myself."

"Well, from the way he seems to look at you in those pictures I'd say he cares more about you then either you're admitting to me or yourself."

"I guess we'll just have to find out when I get back to school then. So, how about you? You are looking amazing already after having Matt."

"Thank you, but I really didn't gain that much weight at all, and carrying him around is a great workout."

The two talked for another hour until Matt woke up. Michelle went and got him and handed him over to Gabriella who grabbed one of the books that he got as a present and started reading it. A few stories later Gabriella could tell that he probably needed a diaper change.

"Michelle!"

Michelle came back into the living room and noticed the look on Gabriella's face.

"Gabi, honey what's wrong?"

Gabriella got up from the couch and started walking towards Michelle. "I think your son needs changing." Gabriella then handed Matt over to her.

"Oh, are you sure you don't want to try this experience."

"No, I can definitely wait on that one."

After lunch David came back home and the three of them sat around the living room talking some more. David asked Gabriella pretty much the same thing Michelle did about Troy and she gave him the same answer. About an hour later Gabriella looked down and saw Matt was out like a light again.

"This boy sure does like his sleep."

"Yeah, this is about time for his afternoon nap. Do you want to carry him up to his room?"

"Sure dad."

Gabriella followed David up stairs to the nursery and slowly and carefully put Matt into the crib. "I can still remember when you were that small."

"Doesn't seem possible now though does it."

"Sometimes it doesn't feel that long ago that you were the one lying in my arms."

David put his arm around his daughter and the two went back down stairs. Gabriella figured since Matt was out and it looked like Michelle and her dad were both getting ready to pass out as well that she might as well go for a drive. She grabbed her car keys and went out to the garage and saw her car was still sitting where it always had. She quickly started it up and took off down the road. She drove around for about twenty minutes and saw a few of her friends' cars sitting at Denny's. She quickly pulled into the parking lot and went inside. She spotted them sitting at a table at the other side of the building so she just told the hostess that she was with them and made her way back.

"Hey guys it's great to see you."

The next few minutes were spent giving hugs before they pulled up another chair for Gabriella.

"So, don't keep us waiting. The new big sister must have some pictures hidden away somewhere."

Gabriella just laughed and pulled out her phone and passed it around so everyone could see a picture of Gabriella holding Matt. "Don't you two look so cute together."

Gabriella excused herself to go to the restroom, and when the phone was at the other end of the table it started ringing and after seeing the picture that popped on the screen Tammy decided she'd answer this one herself. "Hello?"

"Gabi?"

"No this isn't Gabi, this is her...friend Tammy. Who are you?"

"Troy."

"Troy, Troy who?"

"Um...Troy Bolton...look is Gabriella around?"

"Well she's not available at the moment but I am. Are you a friend of her's or are you her boyfriend?"

Troy didn't know what to say at that and just started blushing. "Look, just tell her I called she knows who I am."

"Tammy who are you talking to on my phone?"

Troy could tell that was Gabriella in the background. "Can you please just put Gabriella on the phone?"

"Oh alright, Gabi, it's your boyfriend."

Troy just shook his head and could only imagine how red Gabriella's face was right now.

"Hello?"

"Hey Gabi, it's me."

"Troy, sorry about Tammy. She can be somewhat of a flirt."

"I could tell. Look, I can tell you're out with your friends so I won't keep you. I just wanted to let you know that I'm back home now."

"Ok, I'll give you a call later then if that's ok."

"Yeah, have fun."

"Bye."

Gabriella hung up her phone and gave a playful slap to Tammy's back. "Hey that hurt."

"Sure it did."

"So, who is Troy Bolton?"

"He's just a friend from school."

"Just a friend? Come on Gabi, give us the details."

"That's all you need to know about him."

They all stayed there for another hour before they all went off in their own cars. When Gabriella got back to the house Michelle was getting dinner ready while David was sitting in the living room watching sports with Matt in his arms.

"Can I help Michelle?"

"Yeah, why don't you get the table set. Where did you go?"

"Oh I went for a drive and found some of my friends at Denny's."

"You didn't eat did you?"

"No, they were already eating so I just got a drink and sat and talked with them."

"How's everyone doing?"

They're good, we talked about school, old times, and...Troy."

Michelle turned away from the bowl she was mixing food in and had a smirk on her face when she faced Gabriella. "Troy, huh."

"Well he called when I was there, and Tammy had my phone when it went off and she answered it."

"Oh I bet that was interesting."

"Yeah, she flirted with him a little bit."

"Definitely sounds like her."

The two of them finished getting supper ready and set out before they called David into the kitchen. While they were eating Gabriella just realized how much she missed being home with her family.

to be continued...


	14. Chapter 14

**I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and especially to the ones that have left feedback. I appreciate it!!**

Chapter 14

The week seemed to go by faster than what Gabriella would have liked. She couldn't believe she already had to go back to school. She'd finally gotten off the long flight and was able to quickly get a cab after getting her luggage. She soon was back at the dorm and walking down the hallway towards her room. She noticed someone sitting in front of her door so she quickly made her way there only to notice Troy sitting there.

"Hey you."

Troy looked up from the magazine he was looking through. "Hey it's about time you got back. I've missed you."

"Troy, we've talked a lot during break."

"I know, but it's not the same as actually seeing you."

"Oh, how sweet."

Troy got up so Gabriella could get into her room and he followed her. "Gabi I really need to talk to you about something. I wanted to before you left for break but then you surprised me by leaving early."

"Ok, we can, but can we do it as we're walking to the food court. There was absolutely no food available on the plane. I'm starving."

Troy smiled as she was pulling stuff out of her bag. "Sure, let's go fill you up."

"Thank you." Gabriella had a picture in her hand and she handed it to Troy. "This is the latest picture I was able to get of Matt and me. What do you think?"

"I think you have a very cute brother. Let's put this right here on your night stand so you'll see every morning when you wake up."

Troy was walking over to her night stand and Gabriella tried to stop him. "Troy wait." She couldn't get to him in time.

"Gabi, what is this?"

"What?"

"You have a picture of you and me right next to your bed."

"Oh…well let's go get some food like you said we should."

Gabriella grabbed her purse and headed out the door with Troy quickly following her.

"Gabi, can we talk now."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well we've been spending so much time together and all."

"I know that Troy, in case you didn't know I was there."

"Right, so I was thinking that maybe we should do something about all this."

Gabriella just smiled at Troy. She was aware of where this was going, but enjoyed watching Troy trying to figure out the best way to say it.

"What I'm trying to say is Gabi, will you be my girlfriend…good grief it sounds like I'm in high school."

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh at Troy. "Thanks Gabriella, I'm trying to be serious here and you're laughing."

"I'm sorry Troy, but you were being so serious it was funny, but to answer your question the answer is yes. I would love to be your girlfriend."

"Really?"

"Yeah, everyone thinks we are already, so now we finally don't have to correct them. When Michelle asked about you I said you were a really really really good friend."

Troy started laughing at that one. "Well I think I referred to you in a similar way back home."

"Good to know. Now how about you take your girlfriend to get some food?"

"Your boyfriend would love to."

Later that week the two of them were walking back to the dorm after class. Neither one of them could believe how cold it had gotten for a December in Miami.

"Troy, tell me honestly, did it ever get this cold here last year?"

"We had some chilly days, but nothing like this."

"Well, as soon as I get back to the dorm I'm going to take a long hot shower to warm up."

"You don't need any help with that, do you?"

"Troy, keep your mind out of the gutter."

"Yes, dear." Gabriella couldn't help but laugh at the look on Troy's face.

Once they parted ways, Gabriella got some stuff out of her room and made her way to the bathroom. She quickly turned on the hot water and jumped in. After she finished drying off and getting dressed she walked back into her room and could tell it was colder in there then it should be. She looks at the thermostat she had and couldn't believe what it read. She went over to the vent and couldn't feel anything coming out of it.

"Ok, I know this was on this morning."

She decided to go by a couple of her neighbors' rooms to find out if they knew anything and she discovered that the furnace broke down. Gabriella made her way back to her room and pulled out a trunk that she kept a couple of blankets in and then grabbed a sweatshirt to put on over the top she was wearing. Right after she got wrapped up in her blanket the phone started ringing. So she threw it off and grabbed the phone.

"Hello."

"Hey, babe, I'm guessing it's cold down in your room?"

"How did you guess?"

"Well from the way your teeth or chattering."

"They are not."

"Ok, well then from just knowing the furnace is out and it like 35 degrees outside is how I know it's cold in your room."

"Then yes it is cold down here. I think I need to go buy some extra blankets."

"How about I bring the few I have down there and we can wrap ourselves in both of our blankets."

"Sounds like a plan, and hurry."

Gabriella hung up her phone and wrapped her blanket around her shoulder again. There was soon a knock on the door and Gabriella jumped off her bed and went to open it. "Get in here and give me those blankets."

"Calm down, we'll get you warm soon."

They both got back on Gabriella's bed and were wrapped up in both of their blankets while watching TV. During one of the commercial breaks a Snuggie commercial came on. "I'm never laughing at these commercials again. I'm so getting one of those."

"You'll look great in it to Gabi."

"Don't worry, I'll get you one to so we'll match."

"Just what I always wanted. We'll be able to go to outdoor sporting events and stay warm."

"Now you're talking."

Troy just rolled his eyes and continued to hold Gabriella close to him to keep her warm. It was getting late so Troy started to get up to go back to his own room.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"Back to my own room. You're half asleep already."

"So what, you're keeping me warm, and I won't have you leaving and taking your blankets with you."

Gabriella then climbed underneath her sheets on her bed and then held them open for Troy who had a shocked look on his face. "Are you sure about this?"

"Troy, we're just going to sleep, it's not that big of a deal."

"Ok." Troy followed Gabriella's lead and got under the sheets in her bed as well. They then got all the blankets they were wrapped up in and put them on top of the comforter.

"Now this is even warmer."

Troy smiled at Gabriella and pulled her closer to him before they both fell asleep. The next morning Troy woke up first to see Gabriella's head lying on his chest. He couldn't help but smile down at the girl in his arms. He knew the only thing that could beat this would be her lying in his arms after making love, but knew that wasn't going to be happening. There were times he wasn't sure if them being together was a good idea, because he didn't really know if he could wait as long as he'd have to so he could be with Gabriella. Then he really couldn't picture himself with anyone other than Gabriella and the thought of some other guy with Gabriella drove him nuts. He started realizing it felt hot in the room and looked around and realized the heat was back on. He quickly threw one of the extra blankets off of them and on the floor.

"Gabi, the heat's back on."

"What?" Gabriella slowly started waking up and lifted her head from Troy's chest and smiled at him. "Hi."

"Hi, the heat's back on finally."

"Oh, good no more freezing weather."

"Gabi, it wasn't that cold out."

"Maybe not, but it sure felt like it. I'm actually warm now so let's get some of these blankets off."

The two of them threw the rest of the blankets on the floor and then Troy got out of the bed so Gabriella could as well. After folding all the blankets up Troy put his in one pile and Gabriella put her blankets away.

"How about the two of us get dressed and then go into the city and get something to eat?"

"Sounds good to me, how about you come back down here in a half hour."

"Ok, I'll see you then."

Troy gave Gabriella a kiss and then grabbed his blankets and headed back to his room. Gabriella just looked around the room and remembered how nice it felt to be in Troy's arms all night.

to be continued...


	15. Chapter 15

**Here's the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and been leaving feedback. I hope you enjoy!**

Chapter 15

A few nights later Gabriella saw that the local theater was still showing Disney's A Christmas Carol. She had wanted to go see that and figured she could get Troy to take her so she called him up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Troy, what are you doing?"

"Nothing right now babe. Why do you need something?"

"Well, how would you like to go see a movie?"

"Sure, why not. Do you have one in mind?"

"Well, yeah."

Troy figured it was probably wouldn't be something he wanted to see from the tone in Gabriella's voice. "What is it?"

"Well it's animated."

"You want to go see a cartoon?"

"Yes, it's Disney's A Christmas Carol with Jim Carey."

"Ok, when does it start?"

"In about an hour, I'm ready to go whenever you are."

"Ok, why don't we just meet down in the lounge?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome, but next time I'm going to pick the movie."

A few minutes later they were walking out to the parking lot. Once they arrived at the theater they got their tickets and Gabriella went to the concession stand to see what she wanted. They decided on each getting a soda and a barrel of popcorn for them to share. When the movie got started Gabriella could tell that Troy was enjoying it, and couldn't wait to pick on him for liking something that he just called a cartoon. After the movie was over they got back in the car.

"So, Troy was that a smile on your face during the movie?"

"What?"

"Come on, I could tell you liked it."

"You can't be serious. Me like a cartoon."

"Admit it, you liked it just as much as I did."

"Alright, it was good. I do enjoy a good Christmas movie."

"I knew it."

"Yeah, but that doesn't change things. I still get to pick out the next movie we go see."

"Yes sir."

A couple of weeks had past and it was time for break again. Gabriella couldn't believe that the three weeks between the two breaks went so fast. Right now they were in Troy's room enjoying their time alone. Troy was sitting on the floor with his back to the wall and Gabriella was straddling him and they were in the middle of a make out session.

"Troy, where's Zeke?"

"Why on earth would you ask something like that now?"

"Well, I'd rather not have him coming in while we're like this."

"Don't worry about it. Sharpay's roommate left today, so I don't think he'll be back until morning."

"You mean they're already…"

"According to Zeke they are. Hasn't Sharpay said anything to you?"

"No, but she knows I really don't like to talk about that."

"Right."

They continued their make out session for a few more minutes before Gabriella pulled away and looked at the clock Troy had sitting on his desk. "I guess I should get back to my room and get some sleep. Tomorrow's going to be a crazy day with everyone leaving."

"Do you have everything packed?"

"Yeah my bags are sitting in my room. All I have to do is put the few things in there that I'll need to use in the morning and I'll be set."

"Ok, then why don't you just stay in here with me tonight? I mean you are already in your pajama pants and tank top. You can just stay here with me."

"I don't see why not, but I am tired so can we go to bed?"

"Sure."

Gabriella got off of Troy and he got up himself and the two of them made their way to Troy's bed. Gabriella climbed in first and went as far to the other side as she could that her back was the wall so troy could get in.

"Can these dorm room beds be any smaller?"

"It really wouldn't leave much room if they had bigger bed in here though."

"True."

Troy pulled Gabriella as close to him as he could and the two went to sleep. The next morning Gabriella woke up first and knew she needed to get up so she could get ready so they could get to the airport. She didn't want to wake Troy, but realized there was no way she was going to get out of the bed without waking him up.

"Troy…Troy wake up."

"What?"

"It's morning. I need to get up so I can go get ready before we have to leave."

"Oh Gabi, five more minutes."

"I don't really have five minutes to give you, so if you want five minutes just let me go and you can go back to sleep."

"No, I'll wake up. I need to get ready to. I can't believe this is the last time I'll get to hold you like this for almost a month."

"I know, but we'll talk every day."

"Yeah, but that's not the same."

"We're going to make it through this Troy."

"I know. Now go and get ready before I change my mind and make you stay."

Gabriella pulled him into a passionate kiss. "Make that last until I get back."

"I will."

Gabriella smiled back at Troy and made her way out of his room. She was looking forward to going back home to see everyone again, but this time she wished it wouldn't be such a long break. About an hour later there was a knock on Gabriella door and Sharpay and Taylor were on the other side.

"Hey Gabi."

"Hey you two, are you all ready to go?"

"Yeah, just need to grab the bags when the boys get here."

A few minutes later Chad, Troy, and Zeke showed up and they all made their way out to a shuttle that was going to take them to the airport. There was no way Troy was going to leave his car in the parking lot of the airport for a month. He'd never get that bill paid off. Luckily he was able to leave his car at school. Once they got to the airport they all got their luggage checked and went through security. Gabriella was the first was whose flight was schedule to go so Troy decided to go with her to her gate before heading to his gate.

"You promise to call me as soon as you land?"

"Troy, you know that when I land you'll be in the air so I can't call you."

"Right, then I'll call you when I land."

"That would probably work better."

The two sat at the gate until Gabriella's flight was called.

"Well, I guess this is it. I'll talk to you later on tonight."

"You better believe it. You give your brother a big hug from his buddy Troy."

"Troy, he doesn't even know you." Gabriella tried not to laugh.

"He's seen my picture hasn't he."

"I don't think so."

"You mean you haven't been showing pictures of me off to your family like you show pictures off of Matt at school?"

"Very funny Troy, now I better go."

Troy pulled Gabriella in for one more kiss before she went to get line to board her flight. Before she got on the plane she turned back to Troy one more time and gave him a wave. Once Troy couldn't see her anymore he turned and walked towards his gate.

A couple of hours later Gabriella was finally back at home. Gabriella couldn't believe all the lights on the house.

"Dad, did you over do it this year?"

"What makes you think that?"

"I know we use to put lights on the house, but this is definitely more than last year."

"I guess I wanted to look nice for you when you got home, and for Matt's first Christmas."

Gabriella and David made their way into the house and Gabriella saw the banisters covered in garland and lights and more garland over the fire place.

"Dad did you forget something?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, possibly a tree."

"Oh that's right there isn't one up in here yet is there. Well I was waiting for you to get home before I went to get one. That's something you and I always did. So if you're not tired I thought we could go after lunch."

"That's fine. I always loved going to pick out the Christmas tree."

After they finished the sandwiches that Michelle made, Gabriella and David got in his truck and headed to the Christmas tree farm. Once they got there they were directed to the trees they were looking for with a saw in their hand.

"Dad, how about this one? It looks about the right size."

David walked over to the one she was looking at, but he noticed one that looked a little better and started walking towards it.

"Gabi, what do you think of this one down here?"

Gabriella followed her dad and saw the one he was looking at and new that would be the one that would go in their living room.

"That's it dad, there's no way there is a better one out here."

David got down on the ground and started sawing the bottom of the tree. Once it was down they were met by a tractor with a wagon on the back of it. David lifted the tree into the wagon and he and Gabriella got in. They were soon back at the barn and the tree was getting prepared to get put in the truck. Half of the money that was brought in on the trees and other items was given to charity so David picked up a few other items.

"You ready to go Gabi?"

"Yeah, let's get this tree home and put up. Did you guys at least get the lights out before I came home to test?"

"Don't worry that's been taken care of. I know that's one part you don't care to do."

Gabriella and David climbed back into the truck and made their way home. Once they got there David got the tree out of the truck and carried up to the front door. Michelle had a sheet on the floor with the tree stand already on it. David got the tree situated in the stand and got it tightened in. After a few adjustments they had the tree standing perfectly straight.

"Ok, we're ready to decorate it. Maybe we can get most of it ready before Matt wakes up."

All three of them went down to the basement where the lights were waiting and brought them upstairs. Michelle got the step stool set up by the tree and David started getting the lights on the tree. About an hour later they were working on the ornaments when Matt started crying. Michelle went upstairs and a few minutes later returned with Matt in her arms.

"What do you think Matt?"

He gave a small smile as looked at the lights on the tree. Michelle grabbed the baby's first Christmas ornament she had gotten and walked over to the tree with Matt.

"What do you think Matt? Is this the place for your ornament?"

Matt just pointed at the ornament so Michelle put it on the tree where they found a spot.

to be continued...


	16. Chapter 16

**Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and leaving feedback. If something goes wrong with the past chapters let me know. I was having trouble figuring out this document manager when I uploaded the chapters. It wouldn't let me go past 15 or something so I removed some from the upload section. Hopefully this works.**

Chapter 16

Christmas Eve finally arrived and the Montez family was getting ready to go to church. They got Matt all bundled up and headed out to their SUV. When they got there they weren't surprised by the crowd that already seemed to have arrived. As soon as they got in they decided to take a seat in the back incase Michelle needs to leave with Matt without having to walk all the way from the front to the back. Once they were situated Gabriella started looking around the church and saw some people she recognized. When she looked up front is when she saw her other family, or at least her mom, Don, and their kids. Gabriella tried to get a better look at her other brother since she never saw him before but wasn't having much luck. David noticed Gabriella staring at something up front and looked over as well and saw who she was looking at.

"Gabi, if you want to go say hi to them we have plenty of time before the service starts."

Gabriella looked at her dad and shrugged. "I don't know dad. I don't want a scene in case they decided to say something to me."

"Honey, I don't think they will make a scene in church. Just go on up there and say hello."

While Gabriella was thinking of whether or not to go up there her grandparents, her grandparents from her mother's side, walked in and made their way up to where Maria and her family was sitting. Gabriella still had a good relationship with them, and talked to them a lot over the phone. She was usually afraid to go over there because she was feared running into her mom. She decided then that she would go say hello to her grandparents, and see if her mom would even acknowledge her. Once she got up there she tapped her grandpa on the shoulder and he turned around and gave a great big smile.

"Why if it isn't my little Gabriella."

"Hi grandpa, grandma, it's good to see you guys."

"It's good to see you to dear. When did you get back in town?"

"About a week ago, I'm sorry I haven't called you, but it's been kind of busy with the baby and all."

"Oh we understand, but you have to be sure to come and see us before you go back to school."

"I will."

Gabriella then turned around and saw her mom who wouldn't even acknowledge that she was sitting there.

"Mom." Still nothing was coming from her mom. Gabriella just rolled her eyes. "I was hoping we could at least be nice to each other at Christmas, but I guess that was a stupid idea." Before getting back up she gave her grandparents hugs and smiled at her sister Jennifer, and brother Jimmy.

After church was over Gabriella piled back into the SUV with her family and they were heading to Michelle's parents for dinner with the rest of her family. They would go to her families on Christmas Eve and then the Montez family was coming over to their house on Christmas day, but since it was Matt's first Christmas Michelle's parents were coming as well. When the finished eating they went to sit in the living room so the kids could open presents. Michelle had a few nieces and nephews they were looking forward to this all night. After they had finished David and Michelle opened the presents for Matt. When everything seemed to be open, Michelle's mother came up to Gabriella and handed her a present.

"We didn't forget about you dear."

Gabriella was shocked, she really wasn't expecting to get anything. "Mrs. Stephens, you didn't need to buy me anything."

"Oh enough of that, of course we did, it's Christmas, and you are one of our grandchildren now to. Now open it."

Gabriella smiled at her and began tearing the paper off the package. She opened it up and found a charm that spelled out sister.

"Michelle told me about the charm bracelet you have and I thought this one looked nice."

"Thank you, it will be perfect on my bracelet."

About an hour later everyone decided it was time to go home. As soon as they got the car parked Michelle got out and got Matt out of his car seat, and Gabriella helped her dad get all the presents out of the back and took them in the house.

"Well it's getting late so we had better be getting to bed."

Gabriella headed up to her room and got changed and jumped into bed. Before she went to sleep she grabbed her phone and sent a quick text to Troy wishing him a Merry Christmas and that she would call him tomorrow as soon as she could. The next morning Gabriella woke up and looked around the room to see her clock flashing five o'clock.

"I can't believe I still wake up this early on Christmas morning."

Gabriella knew that there was no way anyone else would be getting up for awhile so she grabbed her remote control off her night stand and turned on the TV. It had been on a Christmas Story, but she didn't want to watch that again, at least yet, so she changed the channel and eventually found A Christmas Carol. Seeing this movie made her think of Troy and she looked over at the picture she had of the two of them in her room. She then grabbed her phone and found out she had a new text message. She opened it and saw that it was from Troy wishing her a Merry Christmas and that he couldn't wait to talk to her. Around seven thirty Gabriella decided she couldn't sit in bed anymore so she went down stairs and saw all the presents under the tree. She decided it would be best to stay away from them until everyone was up so she went into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. Soon enough everyone was up and in the living room. About two hours later everything had been opened. Gabriella was happy with all the new clothes and movies she had gotten. She was now in the kitchen with Michelle as she tried to get some cooking done

"Michelle what exactly are we having today?"

"Well, we have a ham that I need to be getting in the oven, mashed potatoes, your grandmother and aunt are both bringing something so I think we'll have enough."

"Well if you need any help let me know."

"It would be a big help if you can just keep an eye on Matt for awhile for me if that's ok."

"Sure no problem."

After the Christmas dinner and the present opening again Gabriella had no idea where they were going to be keeping all these new toys that Matt seemed to get. Gabriella didn't know how there was any toys left in the toy stores. She then heard her phone go off that she had left upstairs so she starting taking two steps at a time to get there."

"Hello."

"Hey babe, Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas Troy, it's so good to hear your voice."

"Well, I'm happy to be talking to you to. How's your day been going?"

"Alright, but I'm exhausted from waking up early and everyone coming over. I think I'm going to take a nap later."

"How early did you wake up?"

"Don't ask, but it was long before anyone else."

"That's ok, I tend to do that to."

The two talked for about a half hour before hanging up. Gabriella decided now was a good time to take a nap and laid down on her bed. Later that night she sat downstairs with her dad and Michelle watching some Christmas movie while Matt slept in David's arms. They all decided it was time to go to bed as it had been a long day. Gabriella couldn't believe she was still tired after her nap, but it didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

The next Gabriella tried to get a hold of Troy but it went straight to voice mail. She left him a quick message before hanging up and then went into the kitchen where Michelle was reading the paper.

"Hey, where's dad?"

"Oh he had to go into the voice for a few hours today. He should be home later on. Matt's upstairs taking his nap."

Gabriella grabbed a cup out of the cabinet and got herself some water and was about to take a drink when she was interrupted by the doorbell.

"I'll get you sit."

"Thanks Gabi."

The doorbell rang again as Gabriella was running to the front door. "I'm coming." As soon as she opened the door she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Troy was standing in front of her.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Troy, what are you doing here?"

Gabriella and Troy had equally big smiles on their faces as Troy picked her up and spun her around.

"I've seen my family and friends, and there was no way I wanted to not see you for another two and a half weeks so I got on a flight first thing this morning."

"This is amazing."

Troy pulled Gabriella into a kiss and she kicked the door closed.

to be continued...


	17. Chapter 17

**Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and especially to the ones who have been leaving reviews! THANKS!**

Chapter 17

Gabriella and Troy just stood in the door way for a few more minutes not breaking away from the kiss that started. Gabriella finally pulled back when she heard Michelle from the kitchen.

"Gabi, who was at the door?"

"We have company Michelle."

Gabriella could hear Michelle walking in from the kitchen so she grabbed Troy's hand and headed towards the kitchen so they could meet Michelle half way. Once they ran into each other Michelle immediately knew who this was.

"Well, if it isn't the boy that I've been hearing so much about."

Gabriella's eyes started growing big. "Michelle."

"Oh calm down Gabi, I'm your step-mother, I'm supposed to embarrass you a little bit."

"Jeez thanks."

"Anyway, it's nice to meet you Troy." Michelle stuck out her hand.

"You to Mrs. Montez. Gabriella's told me so much about you."

"Please no Mrs. Montez, it's Michelle."

"Ok then, Michelle."

"Would you like something to eat, it wouldn't take long to whip something up for you."

"I don't want to be any trouble. I really just couldn't wait any longer to see Gabi."

"Oh you are quite the charmer. It's no trouble at all. Gabi, why don't you show Troy to the guest room and I'll make some sandwiches. By the time we're done Matt should be waking up and your father will be home."

"Ok, Troy follow me."

Gabriella took Troy upstairs and showed him to the room he would be staying in. After he put his bags down he followed Gabriella back out into the hallway and she showed him where the bathroom was.

"Well, I know where my room is and the bathroom, the question I really need to know is which room is yours?"

Gabriella playfully hit him and she pointed down the hall to her room.

"But that's off limits to you. You really don't want to get on my dad's bad side do you?"

"I guess not, lets go downstairs and see if those sandwiches ready. I really am starving."

Gabriella just laughed and grabbed his hand and made his way back downstairs. When they got to the kitchen, Michelle had three sandwiches ready and a bottle of soda sitting out that was left over from the family be over yesterday. About twenty minutes later they all heard a crying from upstairs and Michelle excused herself.

"It looks like you're about to meet the new boss of the house."

Troy smiled at her and a few minutes later Michelle walked back in with Matt in her arms.

"So this is the little guy I've been hearing so much about and seeing so many pictures of."

"This is him. What do you think?"

"Well, I don't know much about babies, but he seems to be a good one."

"That he is, would you like to hold him?"

Troy's eyes got huge and he wasn't really sure what to do.

"I don't think so I'm afraid I'll drop him or something."

"Don't be silly. We'll go into the living room so you can sit on the couch and get more comfortable."

The three of them headed towards the living room and Troy sat on the couch and Michelle put Matt in his arms. Troy was still at first and was afraid to move. Gabriella took a seat next to him and tried to get him to relax a bit, but it wasn't helping much at first. After he seemed to calm down a bit Michelle grabbed the camera that had been left on the table from yesterday and quickly took a picture before either of them could notice.

"Michelle?"

"I didn't want to miss that perfect opportunity."

Troy shyly smiled and managed to get one of arms freed and wrapped it around Gabriella's shoulder and Michelle took another picture. A couple of minutes later Matt seemed to start getting fussy so Michelle took him to get him so he could eat.

"That's some little guy you've got there."

"You wouldn't believe all the stuff he got for Christmas."

Troy looked at all the stuff that was still under the tree.

"I could imagine from the looks of things."

Gabriella also looked under the tree and started laughing. "Yeah, well this really isn't all of it."

"How long do you leave the tree up for?"

"We usually take it down on New Year's Day. We don't usually do much on that day."

"Well, I'll still be here that day so I'm going to help."

"How long are you staying?"

"I've got a ticket to go back home on the second. That way I'll have some more time to spend with my friends and then get everything ready to go back to school."

Later that day David came home and met Troy. The two seemed to get along great. Gabriella was a little worried about that because sometimes her father can be over protective. David and Troy were downstairs in the basement family room watching a football game while Michelle was up in the living room reading a book when Gabriella walked in.

"Michelle can I talk to you for a second?"

"You can talk to me for as many seconds as you need. Is something wrong sweetie?"

"I've just been thinking."

"About what?"

Gabriella was a little embarrassed to bring this up. Yes she's talked to Michelle about everything before but this was much more personal.

"Gabriella, you know if you want to tell me something you don't want your father to know you can trust me."

"It's not that really, it just..." Gabriella started playing with her ring on her finger. "What would you think if I took off my ring?"

Michelle was very aware of the promise that Gabriella had made to herself long before she ever came into the picture.

"Gabi, honey, is this something you want to do, or is Troy pressuring you."

Gabriella began shaking her head. "No, not at all. Troy knows all about the ring and everything and he's been great about it, but I don't know. I've just been thinking."

"Gabriella, I can understand why these thoughts have been going through your head. He's the first serious boyfriend you've seemed to have had, at least as long as I've known you. You told me about Scott, but you seem to be much more involved with Troy than what your relationship with Scott was."

"I guess, I just want to be around Troy all the time and it's scary in a good way. I'm just afraid..."

"You aren't afraid that he'll break up with you if you don't do this are you?"

Gabriella just looked down at the floor.

"Gabi, you definitely don't want to go there, if you think it's a way to keep your boyfriend, and like I said, Troy doesn't seem like that type of young man."

"He's not, it's just a thought that crosses my mind sometimes."

"Honey, you need to be true to yourself. When you're really ready you'll know it, and if Troy's the one and you're ready before you get married then that's your choice to make, but don't ever feel like you'll be left if you don't."

"You're right. I guess I just needed to hear it out loud."

"You know I'm always going to be here for you."

"I know, and I love you for it."

Michelle put her book back down on the table and got up from the couch. "How about we go downstairs and see what the men in this house are doing? It's about time for me to give Matt his bath and put him to bed anyway."

Gabriella got up as well and pulled Michelle into a hug. "Thank you for listening. Now let's go watch some football."

The two of them headed for the family room and saw Matt sleeping in his vibrating chair while the other two had their eyes glued to the television. Gabriella walked over to Troy and joined him in the over sized chair he was sitting in. He took his eyes away from the TV long enough to smile at her and put his arm around her shoulder and they all continued to watch the game.

to be continued...


	18. Chapter 18

**Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it. There's a bit of a twist in this chapter. Thanks for all those reading and especially to the ones leaving feedback.**

Chapter 18

A couple of days later Gabriella and Troy were both getting ready for a party. Gabriella finished getting ready and made her way to Troy's room. Once she got there she saw the he was putting his shoes on.

"Hey, you almost ready to go?"

"Yeah, just let me grab my wallet. Gabi, why is your friend having a party on the eve of New Year's Eve?"

"They like to get to partying early I guess."

"Don't you know, this Tammy's your friend isn't she?"

"Not really."

"What do you mean not really? She's the one who answered your phone when I called you during Thanksgiving break."

"True, but she's more of a friend of a friend I guess you can say. So we're not really friends. We just have friends in common."

"Ok let's get going."

The two made their way downstairs and said goodbye to Gabriella's dad and Michelle and then made their way out to the garage where Gabriella's car was parked. Troy got into the passenger's seat since Gabriella would know how to get there. While they were driving Troy decided to find out more about this party.

"Babe, is there going to be alcohol at this party?"

"Probably, it's not like I'm going to be drinking or anything. If you want to I won't have a problem with it. I'm driving anyway."

"Well, I don't want you to get mad if you see me with a drink."

"Troy, I've seen you drinking before, it's not that big of a deal."

"You haven't seen me with a drink since we got together though."

"It doesn't make much of a difference Troy. We may not have been officially together, but everyone thought we were."

"I guess you're right, so if you won't mind then I'll probably drink a little."

Once they got there Gabriella got the car parked and they walked about a block to the house that the party was at.

"Seems like this girl has gotten a crowd."

"Yeah, it's like a class reunion from some of these cars I see."

They got up to the house and just walked in and Gabriella saw a lot of familiar faces, but almost just as many unfamiliar ones. The two of them made their way to a couple of Gabriella's friends and she introduced them to Troy. Troy seemed to get along with them, but kept noticing a girl staring at him from the other side of the room.

"Gabi, do want to go get something to drink?"

"Sure, we'll be right back guys."

The two of them made their way to the kitchen and Troy grabbed a can of beer and Gabriella got a bottle of water. The two made their way back towards the party and ran into a few more people that Gabriella knew. Troy felt a little out of place since all these people were a part of a life of Gabriella that he really didn't know, but he did want to know. While Gabriella was talking to some of her friends Troy made his way back to the kitchen and got another drink when he ran into the girl that was staring at him earlier.

"Hello."

Troy just looked around to make sure she was talking to him.

"Hi."

"I never thought I'd actually get to meet you."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh that's right, you don't know me, but I know you. I saw your picture on Gabi's phone."

Troy realized this must have been the girl who answered Gabriella's phone.

"Oh right, you must be…I'm sorry I don't remember your name."

"It's Tammy. Can I get your something more to drink?"

"No that's ok I've got one."

"Then how about you tell me all about Gabi and her life down in Florida? Is she still the goody too shoes that she always has been?"

"Wow, that's a nice way to talk about a friend of yours." Troy sarcastically said.

"Well, Gabi and I never were great friends. Here let me get you another beer."

Tammy went and grabbed another beer and opened it, but before she gave it to Troy she slipped a little something in it to loosen him up a bit.

About an hour later Gabriella was looking for Troy. She had realized she had lost him awhile ago but couldn't find him in this crowd. She soon spotted him with Tammy and a few of her other friends. What really bothered her were Tammy's hands being all over him. Gabriella quickly walked over to Troy and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Troy."

Troy turned around and smiled. "Oh hey Gabi, I've just been hanging out with you friend here."

Gabriella didn't know what to think of this and figured Troy had one too many drinks in him. "Troy maybe we should get going."

"I'm having fun Gabi, let's stay longer."

"Yeah Gabi, he's having fun over here with us so why don't you let him stay. If you want to go I'll be more than happy to let him stay here with me."

"I don't think so Tammy. Come on Troy."

Troy didn't move though and stayed where he was.

"Doesn't look like he wants to go with you Gabriella, why don't you leave and let Troy stay with a woman who can give him what he needs. Troy's been telling me how you still aren't putting out for him."

Gabriella couldn't believe what she was hearing. Troy had never said anything against her wanting to wait before.

"Shut up Tammy, I don't have time for your lies."

Troy finished up another beer and then through it in the trash can next to them. "She's not lying Gabriella. Do you realize I haven't had sex in months? I haven't gone this long without any since I started having sex."

Gabriella held any tears back that she thought would come. She had no intention of crying in front of all these people.

"You heard him Gabriella, he wants to be with someone who will satisfy his needs, and that certainly is not you."

Gabriella looked at Troy as he opened another can of beer and then she turned away and walked the back door. She realized she was the only one outside so she took a seat on a lounge chair. A few minutes later she heard the back door open again and hoping it was Troy she looked up.

"Hey Gabi."

"Scott, what are you doing here?"

"It's a party, where else would I be." The two sat there in silence for a few minutes. "I saw what happened back there. I'm sorry, I noticed Tammy supply him with beer after beer. If I knew he was with you I would have come to warn you."

"It doesn't matter. It doesn't change what he said."

"Gabi, you have to know it's the alcohol talking."

"Yeah, but part of it must be real because he's saying it. Maybe the alcohol is just helping him say what he feels."

"Then I suggest you get him and get him sobered up so you two can talk about this."

"You're right, I need to get him home."

The two of them got up and headed back inside. Gabriella saw Tammy trying to help Troy upstairs so she quickly got over to the steps with Scott right behind her. They eventually got to them and Gabriella grabbed Troy's other arm.

"Troy."

Troy turned around and looked at her and smiled. Gabriella could tell by looking in his eyes that he was out of it.

"Troy, we need to go home."

"Gabi get lost, I'm going to satisfy every one of Troy's needs that you've been ignoring."

"Tammy shut up."

"Why if it isn't Scotty? Do you still have the hots for Gabi and are trying to be her savior here tonight."

This caught Troy's attention and he turned his eyes to Scott. "You think you're going to take my girl away from me?"

"Troy you need to calm down."

"Don't tell me what to do. You stay away from Gabriella, she's my girl, and I'm not letting anyone take her away from me."

"Troy, no one is going to take me away from you, but you need to calm down and I need to get you home."

"I don't want to go home. I want to teach this guy a lesson."

Troy lunged towards Scott and missed and fell on the floor. Scott and Gabriella got Troy up and got him to Gabriella's car. Once they got him situated in the car Gabriella closed the passenger's door.

"Thank you Scott. I couldn't have gotten him out of here without your help."

"No problem, maybe I can meet him sometime when he's less intoxicated."

"Yeah, maybe. Thanks again."

Gabriella made her way over to the driver's door and started on their way home. When they go to the house Gabriella helped Troy up to his room. She was thankful that everyone was asleep. Once they got in his room Gabriella got him on the bed and took his shoes off for him and then pulled the covers over him.

"Sorry Troy, but you're sleeping in your clothes tonight."

Gabriella left one of the lamps on before leaving the room and making her way towards her own. The two of them had a lot of talking to do tomorrow and she needed a good night sleep to make sure she got through it.

The next morning Gabriella woke up and looked at the clock. She quickly got up and went into her bathroom and got a glass of water and a couple of Advil. She then made her way to Troy's room and saw that he was still asleep. She just put them on the night stand and made her way out of the room. She then walked down the stairs and saw Michelle and her dad sitting in the living room.

"Hey honey, how was the party last night?"

"It was ok. It got a little wild."

"Is that why Troy is still asleep?"

"You could say that. I told him he could drink last night if he wanted since I wasn't going to and I would drive home. He just had a little too much."

"Are you sure that's all that's going on?"

"Yeah, I'm going to grab something to eat."

Gabriella made her way into the kitchen and Michelle and David gave each other a look knowing something else was going on. About twenty minutes later Troy was waking up upstairs. He quickly started looking around trying to figure out where he was.

"What's going on? How did I get back here?"

Troy put his hand over his head and couldn't believe how much it hurt. He then saw the glass of water and pills. He quickly scooped them up and threw both of them in his mouth. A couple of minutes later Gabriella walked in and saw that Troy was awake.

"I see someone is up."

Troy turned to Gabriella and smiled. "Hey babe, what happened last night? I don't remember much."

"You got smashed Troy, that's what happened."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you think I mean. You got drunk and made a fool out of yourself and me."

"Gabi, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Troy I really don't want to hear it."

"It's the truth. The last thing I remember is going into the kitchen to get another drink and then the next thing I know I'm waking up. What happened?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes. "You got drunk Troy, started flirting with Tammy to the point I thought you were ready to sleep with her, and completely embarrassed me."

Troy couldn't believe what he was hearing. There was no way he would do any of that to Gabriella.

"That has to be some mistake."

"No Troy, I made the mistake of thinking you'd be willing to wait."

"What?"

"You told me last night that you hadn't had sex in months and you couldn't wait any longer. Then there was Tammy, ready and willing to take care of your needs."

Troy got a shocked look on his face. "Gabriella I swear I don't remember any of that. I would never do that to you."

"Well you did Troy. I stopped you from going upstairs with her and then Scott and I got you in the car and I brought you home."

"Scott?"

"He's a friend of mine that you didn't have time to meet I guess."

"Gabi, I'm so sorry. I don't know what else to say."

"There really isn't anything else for you to say."

"What do you want me to do? I'll do anything to make this right with you."

Gabriella just sat there for a few minutes before looking back at Troy. "I think you need to come up with a reason to go home."

"What? Gabriella I was supposed to be here for three more days."

"That plan has changed. Just think of a reason to tell Michelle and my dad that you have to go home early. I really just need time to myself."

Troy crawled over to her on the bed and put his hand on her shoulder. "Gabriella, I don't want to leave you. Gabi, I love you."

Gabriella had tears in her eyes and looked into his eyes. "I love you to Troy, but right now I just need time without you. We'll see each other once we get back to school."

Troy just stared at her as she got up from the bed and walked towards the door.

"I'll leave you to get dressed and packed."

After she closed the door Troy had tears running down his own cheeks.

"What have I done?"

to be continued...


	19. Chapter 19

**Here's the next chapter. Thanks for all the reviews. I hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 19

Over the rest of the break David and Michelle knew something wasn't right. They didn't buy the excuse Troy had given them about having to go home early, but Gabriella wasn't denying it and didn't want to talk about it. David was going to talk to Gabriella about it, but Michelle told him that if she wanted them to know then she would come to them. Troy was constantly calling Gabriella and leaving he voice messages. She didn't want to talk to him, but she couldn't help but listen to all his messages just to hear his voice. After his last message where he let her know that he loved her she decided to send him a text back to him.

"_I'll see you at school tomorrow."_

After Gabriella sent the message she put her phone down and started packing. A couple of minutes later her phone went off and she looked over at it to see she had a new text. She quickly grabbed it and read the message from Troy.

"_When does your flight come in? I'll pick you up."_

Gabriella rolled her eyes and hit the reply button.

"_I'll meet you at school."_

Another message quickly came and instead of reading it she just turned her phone off. After finishing her packing she took her bags downstairs. The next morning David helped Gabriella put her bags in the car and the two made their way to the airport.

"Gabi, is there anything you want to tell me?"

"No dad, everything is fine."

"Then what's going on with Troy? I know something's wrong?"

"Dad, I can handle it. I guess I was upset about him getting drunk at that party."

"Upset enough to make him leave early?"

"I don't really feel like talking about it. I'll be talking to Troy about it in a few hours."

"Ok, just know that I'm here for you if you ever want to talk."

They were soon at the airport and David helped Gabriella get her bags inside.

"I'm going to miss you sweetie."

"I'll miss you to Dad, but I'll call you as soon as I get there."

"You better. I love you."

Gabriella went into her father's arms. "I love you to."

One Gabriella got to Miami she was able to find a shuttle the school was using to get students from the airport to the school. After arriving on campus she made her way to the dorm and got to her room. The first thing she did when she got there was put her bags down and fell back onto her bed.

"It's good to be back."

She looked down at her phone and saw she had three missed calls they were all from Troy. She quickly listened to them all and they pretty much all said that same thing. Asking when she was going to get here and that he loved her. Gabriella decided it was time to face Troy, but she would do her unpacking first. After she put everything away she left her room and made her way down to Troy's room. As soon as she got there she was a little nervous. She quickly knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. A couple of seconds later the door opened and Gabriella saw Troy standing there with a smile on his face.

"Gabi, you're back."

"Hi Troy."

Troy pulled her into a hug and then pulled her into his room and closed the door.

"I missed you so much."

"I've missed you to."

"Then why didn't you return my calls?"

"Troy I needed time to think and you constantly calling me wasn't helping."

"Gabi, whatever happened at the party, I wasn't in my right mind."

"Troy, how am I supposed to know that you're not really feeling that way about our relationship? Those words had to come from somewhere."

Troy rubbed his hands over his face and through his hair. "Maybe they did, but I'm willing to wait for you. I love you. I want to tell you that every day. I want to be with you all the time. The thought of being with someone else doesn't even seem possible. You're the only person I think about."

"Troy, I love you to, but I have to make sure you really mean what you say, and that the same thing that happened at the party won't happen again."

"I understand."

The two sat there for a few minutes in silence before Gabriella decided to open up to him.

"You know, I was thinking about taking off my ring."

Troy looked up with surprised look on his face.

"What?"

"I was really considering taking off my purity ring. Being with you had been on my mind a lot."

"Why didn't you tell me this?"

"Because there was never really any time, I was just thinking about it, and then the next thing I know the party happened."

"I see. Gabriella, I'm going to do everything I can to make that up to you."

"We'll see how things go Troy, but the ring isn't going anywhere."

"I understand, and I would never ask you to take it off. I respect your decision and if you change your mind it will be your decision and no one else's."

"Thank you Troy."

Troy pulled her into his arms and gently kissed her.

"I love you Troy."

"I love you to Gabriella."

A few weeks went by and things hadn't gotten quite back to normal yet. Gabriella wasn't as affectionate with Troy anymore and he understood her decision. He just wished he could do something that would change things back to the way that had been. Gabriella was acting more like a friend than a girlfriend again. Later that day Troy got a call and hoped this idea would change things back to the way things were. He quickly made his way down to Gabriella's room and knocked on her door.

"Hey, what are you doing down here?"

"Well, I have a favor to ask you."

Gabriella opened the door wider for Troy to walk in. As soon as he was in she closed the door and followed him over to the chair he had sat down in. Gabriella was heading to sit on the bed but Troy quickly grabbed her and pulled her into his lap.

"Troy."

"Gabi, you're my girlfriend, there is no reason you can't sit on my lap."

"Troy…"

"Gabi, just sit on my lap. I have to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"I got a call from my parents and their coming to Florida."

"Why?"

"I have an uncle, my dad's brother, that lives down here and they're going to visit him since he wasn't able to come home for Christmas."

"You have an uncle that lives here and you never went to see him last semester?"

"He doesn't live here in Miami, he lives up in Orlando."

"Oh, so what's that have to do with me?"

"Well, my parents know that I don't have classes on Friday so they asked me to drive up for the weekend so they could see me while they're in Florida."

"Ok."

"And well they asked me to bring you. I talked about you so much over break and they want to meet the girl they've heard so much about."

"Troy, I have class on Friday."

"I know, but maybe you could skip just this once so you can come with me. I know you get done in the morning on Thursday and we can leave then, and then we'd be back on Sunday night."

"Troy, I don't know."

"Please Gabriella it would mean a lot to me. I really want you to meet my family."

Gabriella just smiled at Troy. "Yes, I'll go with you up to Orlando."

"Thank you so much babe. I love you."

Troy pulled Gabriella into a kiss that she broke away from earlier than he would have liked.

"I love you to Troy. You can tell your parents we'll both be there."

Thursday afternoon soon arrived and Gabriella was walking back after her last class. She noticed Troy sitting by her door when she arrived.

"Troy, you knew I wasn't going to be back until now why are you sitting here?"

"I wanted to be here when you arrived."

Gabriella unlocked her door and dropped her books on her bed.

"I'm going to have to take a couple of books with me just so you know."

"That's fine."

Gabriella put a few things in her bag and then Troy picked it up for her and the two made their way to the parking lot. They talked the entire way up to Orlando and Troy thought things might finally be going back to normal between the two of them. Once they arrived at the hotel they would be staying at, Troy called his parents and they were going to meet them in the lobby. Troy and Gabriella walked into the lobby and Troy immediately spotted his mom and dad.

"This was Gabi."

Troy was quickly pulled into a hug by his mother.

"Troy, honey I'm so glad you're here."

"Thanks mom, it's good to see you to. Hey dad."

"Hi son, and this must be Gabriella."

"Hello Mr. Bolton."

"None of this Mr. stuff, my name is Jack."

"Ok, Jack, it's nice to meet you."

"You to, we've heard so much about you."

"Troy, she's just beautiful. I'm Lucille."

"Hello."

Gabriella started blushing.

"There is no reason to be shy Gabriella."

"Well, mom we should probably get checked in."

"Don't worry about that honey. We reserved the rooms and we already have everything set."

Lucille handed Gabriella and Troy each a key.

"You two are in room 472 right across the hall from us."

Gabriella and Troy both looked up at that. The last thing they expected to hear was that they were sharing a room.

"I hope you two don't mind sharing a room. I just assumed you'd want to. I'm sorry if I was wrong."

"It's ok mom, we'll make do."

Gabriella just looked over at Troy and they all made their way to the elevator. Once they got up to their room Troy unlocked the door and walked in with Gabriella behind him. She ran into his back when he stopped walking.

"Troy, why did you…" She then notice why, there was just one king sized bed in the room. "Oh."

"Gabi, I'm sorry. I should have told my mom that we would have needed two rooms."

"Troy it's no big deal, nothing can be done about it now. It's not like we haven't slept in the same bed before, and this one is three times bigger than the ones at the dorm."

"If you sure you don't mind."

"It's no problem."

The two got cleaned up and then made their way back downstairs to meet Jack and Lucille for supper. They were going to meet the rest of Troy's family as well. Once they got the restaurant they all got their food ordered. After they finished eating they all said goodbye to each other and made plans to go to Disney World the next day. Once they were back at the hotel Gabriella went into the bathroom to change.

"Bathroom is all yours now Troy."

Troy looked up at Gabriella who was in a pair of shorts and a tank top. He just nodded his head and walked into the bathroom with his own pajamas. Gabriella laid down on the bed waiting for Troy to come out. When he did she saw that he was also in shorts and a t-shirt.

"You ready to go to sleep or do you want to stay up for awhile?"

"I'm kind of tired."

"Ok."

The two got under the covers and each stayed on their own side of the bed.

"I love you Gabriella."

Gabriella turned her head to face him. "I love you to Troy."

Troy looked over at her and scooted over closer to the middle of the bed. Gabriella did the same and ended up with her head in the crook of his neck.

"I've really missed holding you."

"I missed being in your arms."

"Gabi, I promise, nothing like what happened at that party is ever going to happen again. I don't want anyone else but you in my life."

Gabriella pulled Troy into a kiss. "You're the one for me to Troy."

Troy smiled at her and pulled her into a kiss.

"Goodnight Gabi."

"Goodnight Troy."

to be continued...


	20. Chapter 20

**Here's the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and leaving feedback.**

Chapter 20

The next morning Gabriella woke up and noticed she was back on her own side of the bed and Troy was still sleeping on his side. She didn't remember moving out of Troy's arms, but didn't think much else of it. She decided to get up and get in the shower before Troy could. When she got out she heard the TV was on so she quickly dried off and put her clothes on. After leaving the bathroom she saw Troy on the floor doing push-ups while listening to the news.

"The bathroom is yours if you want it."

"Thanks, I'll be done here in a minute."

"Maybe we should try the gym here at the hotel while we're here. We haven't gotten to the one at school much this semester."

"We'll have to change that once we get back."

After finishing up with his push-ups he got up off the floor and kissed Gabriella on the cheek and made his way into the bathroom. While Troy was taking his shower Gabriella grabbed her history book she brought with her and started catching up on her reading. About ten minutes later Gabriella heard the bathroom door open and looked up to see Troy walking into the room with just a towel on. Gabriella dropped her book on her lap and just stared at Troy. He finally realized that he had eyes on his and started blushing.

"Sorry, I forgot to grab my clothes."

"That's ok."

"Are you enjoying the view Gabriella?"

Gabriella quickly picked up her book and went back to reading. "Go get dressed Troy, we're going to Disney World today."

Troy smiled at her and made his way back into the bathroom. Twenty minutes later the phone rang and Troy grabbed it to learn that his parents were already in the lobby waiting for them. They each grabbed a couple of things and made their way downstairs. Once they met Jack and Lucille they all piled into Troy's car. When they got to the parking lot at the Magic Kingdom Jack called up his brother to find out where they would meet. It didn't take them long to all find each other and they all made their way to the entrance. Lucille decided she was going to use the ladies room before they started going around the park and Gabriella decided to join her.

"So Gabriella, tell me about you."

"There isn't really much to tell. I'm from Texas, a smaller city just north of Dallas and I lived there my entire life. My parents are divorced and I've live with my dad and step-mom."

"Troy mentioned that and that you just got a new baby brother. How is he?"

"He's great and so much fun to be around, even though he doesn't do very much right now."

The two finally made it back to the guys and Gabriella saw Troy talking to his little cousin.

"Hey."

"Hey Gabi, Jake here wants to go with us."

"Oh, well that's fine."

Troy tried to get her to say something else but it wasn't working. He eventually grabbed her arm and pulled her a little way away from everyone else.

"Gabi, if he comes with us we'll have to go on all the little kid rides, he won't be able to go on the bigger rides."

"Troy, what else are we supposed to do. He wants to spend time with you."

"Troy?"

Troy turned around to see his Uncle Steve walking towards them.

"You don't need to watch Jake. How about we all got to the same rides for awhile and then we could split up."

"Does that work for you Troy?"

Troy looked from Gabriella to Steve. "Yeah that would work."

After they all went on a few rides together Gabriella and Troy broke away from everyone else. They quickly made their way to some of the bigger rides and then went to grab something to eat. Gabriella noticed some girls looking over at Troy, but he was just ignoring them and keeping his eyes on Gabriella.

"Troy, why are you staring at me?"

"Because you're beautiful."

"Very corny Troy."

After they finished reading Troy and Gabriella went to some of the stores and Troy looked for something to buy Gabriella. Gabriella was looking at some of the stuffed animals trying to figure out which one she should get Matt. A few minutes later she picked a Pluto stuffed animal and went to pay for it. She didn't notice Troy standing in line behind her holding a nice sized Mickey Mouse stuffed animal. As soon as they got outside Gabriella noticed the toy Troy was holding.

"Who is that for?"

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh at the size of it.

"It's for you."

"Me? What am I supposed to do with it?"

"I thought you'd like it, but I can take it back."

"No Troy don't take it back, it's cute."

"Then here you go."

"Troy, I really don't have anywhere to put it."

"Well then we'll rent one of those locker spaces to keep this stuff in while we continue going through the park."

"Ok."

The two rented a locker and put the purchases in them and went back to walking around the park. Gabriella stopped at a stand to get a soda and Troy seemed to drink more if it then she did.

"Troy if you wanted one I would have bought you one."

"That's ok, I'll just drink yours."

Gabriella took the cup back from Troy to get a drink only to find it empty.

"Troy!"

"What?"

"You drank it all. I'm still thirsty."

"Fine, we'll go buy you another one."

"Good, but this time you're not getting any."

Troy walked up to one of the stands and bought two sodas and gave one of them to her.

"Why didn't you tell me you wanted one earlier."

"Because I didn't want one until I started drinking yours."

A few hours later they met back up with Troy's family and they headed out of the park and back to the hotel. Once they got there they went up to their room. Gabriella didn't feel like sitting in the room though for the rest of the night.

"Troy, do you want to do something?"

"Like what?"

"Well, I have my swim suit. How about we go down to the pool?"

"That works. Why don't you grabbed your suit and go into the bathroom and change and I'll change out here."

"Ok."

Gabriella dug through her bag and pulled out her swim suit and made her way to the bathroom. A few minutes later Gabriella came back out and saw Troy standing there in his swim trunks and a t-shirt.

"You ready?"

"Yeah."

The two made their way down to the pool and they set their stuff down on a lounge chair. Gabriella had a smile on her face as she watched Troy take his shirt off. The two made their way to the stairs and got into the pool. Gabriella started swimming to the deep end and Troy followed her and grabbed onto her ankle and pulled her back to him. The two continued playing around in the pool for awhile and then they decided to get in the hot tub. They were both kind of surprised that there was no one else in the pool, but they liked they had everything in the room to themselves. While they were in the hot tub Troy pulled Gabriella to him and into a passionate kiss. They stayed like that for awhile until they heard the door to the pool area open. Gabriella quickly backed up and just smiled at the family that walked in.

"Do you want to get back into the pool for awhile before we go back upstairs?"

"Yeah, I think I need to cool off."

The two got out of the hot tub and jumped back into the pool and raced from one end to the other. They decided to get out then and went back upstairs. They each took their showers and got into the bed. Gabriella grabbed her history book again and started reading while Troy flipped through the channels.

"Gabi are you really going to do homework now?"

"Troy, I have to get this read. I'm already two chapters behind of what I'm supposed to be."

"You are probably the only in your class that reads this stuff."

"Fine."

Gabriella put her book on the night stand and turned the lap off on her side and pulled the covers over her.

"Hey, what are you doing now?"

"What's it look like I'm doing, I'm going to sleep, and I'm tired."

"Gabi, I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't upset me, it has been kind of a long day and it's going to be another one like it tomorrow."

"So you're not mad at me?"

"No Troy, now why don't you go to sleep?"

"Ok, I love you."

"I love you to."

The rest of the weekend seemed to go by fast and Gabriella and Troy were soon back in his car and driving back to Miami. Troy's back seat was filled with stuff they each had bought and the truck was just as full with their bags. Once they got up to the school Troy pulled into the parking lot and started pulling stuff out of the trunk.

"I think we're going to have to make more than one trip."

"Yeah, I told you we shouldn't have bought so much."

"Oh come on Gabi, how many times do you go to Disney World."

Gabriella just shook her head and followed him up the path to the dorms and then to her room. Another trip later they got everything they needed out of the car. They were soon in Gabriella's dorm room and she was unpacking her clothes.

"Don't you have something more interesting to do than watch me put my clothes away?"

"No, I like watching you."

"Troy go unpack."

"Not unless you come with me."

"You're insane."

"About you."

Gabriella smiled at Troy and after she was finished they made their way down to Troy's room. Troy was about to open the door to his room when they heard some heavy breathing and other stuff.

"Oh Zeke."

Troy's eyes got huge and he quickly closed the door and noticed Gabriella had her hands over her ears.

"I guess they weren't expecting me back for awhile."

"Come on let's just go back to my room for awhile."

"Good idea."

to be continued...


	21. Chapter 21

**Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like. Again thanks to everyone who's been reading and leaving feedback.**

Chapter 21

A week later Gabriella and Taylor were in Taylor's room working on some homework while the boys were at the gym. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door.

"Come in."

Gabriella looked up at the door when it opened and when she saw it was Sharpay she looked back down at her book.

"Hey Sharpay."

"Hi Taylor, Gabi."

Gabriella quickly looked up at Sharpay. "Hi Sharpay." Then she quickly went back to her book.

"I was wondering if you two were interested in going to the pool since the boys are all working out. Give us something to do."

"Sounds good to me, what do you say Gabs."

"Yeah, sure."

Gabriella didn't even look up at Sharpay before she left the room to grab her suit.

"Gabi, what's going on? You hardly said anything to Sharpay."

"I just can't face her."

"Why not?"

"Well, the night Troy and I came back from Orlando I was helping him take some stuff to his room and he started to open his door and we heard Zeke and Sharpay having sex."

Taylor couldn't help but start laughing. "You actually saw them?"

"No…no…no…We just heard them. Troy shut the door before we could actually see anything. Since then I just have trouble looking at Sharpay."

"Troy doesn't seem to have the same problem with Zeke."

"They're guys Taylor, they talk about that all the time."

"I guess, but you really need to get over it. It's not like you saw them, then it would be different."

"True, well I'll go get changed and meet you guys down at the lounge."

"Ok, see you in a few."

The three of them soon made their way to the gym and they had to walk by the weight room on their way to the locker room.

"Hey guys, the girls are here."

Chad and Troy both looked up and saw them walking down the hall.

"Gabi, didn't mention anything about coming down here."

"Neither did Taylor, must have been a last minute decision or something. I guess we'll find out in a few minutes if they come in here."

Five minutes past and none of them came into the room. A few minutes later the boys were finished working out and made their way to the locker room and didn't see the girls anywhere. Once they were in the locker room Troy decided to go to the entrance of the pool and saw the girls all swimming laps. He quickly walked back to the others.

"Hey guys, the girls are in the pool."

The three of them each grabbed their trunks out of their gym bag and changed their clothes. They were soon all running into the pool and jumped in.

"What the…"

Gabriella then realized Troy was in the pool with the others.

"What are you guys doing in here?"

"We saw you coming into the gym and then I figured you must be in here."

Zeke swam over to Sharpay and wrapped his arms around her. Gabriella was by Troy and hid her head in his neck when she looked over at Zeke and Sharpay.

"Gabi, you can't keep hiding yourself whenever you seem them. They're going to figure out why."

"You didn't tell them, did you?"

"No, but it's not that big of a deal to me."

"Well it's embarrassing."

"Gabi, we didn't see anything so there is nothing to be embarrassed about. They're our friends and we both knew they were sleeping together."

"I guess you're right."

The six of them began playing chicken for awhile before they got out and changed. They met each other by the soda machines and made their way back to the dorm. Once they got there Troy went back to Gabriella's room with her instead of going to his own. When they got there they each threw their bags on the floor and Troy pulled Gabriella into him and began kissing her.

"That was nice."

"Just nice?"

"Ok Troy it was incredible. One of the best kisses I've ever had."

"That's better."

Troy grabbed Gabriella's hands and then noticed something.

"Gabi."

Troy had a shocked look on his face and couldn't believe what he was seeing and thought this might be her way of telling him something.

"Troy, what is it?"

"Gabi, are you ready?"

Gabriella just had a confused look on her face and didn't know what he was talking about.

"Troy what are you talking about?"

"You took your ring off."

Gabriella looked down at her hands and noticed what he was talking about.

"Oh, Troy please don't take this the wrong way."

"What do you mean?"

"I didn't take the ring off because of you. I had a chemistry lab today and the professor suggested that we not wear any jewelry during it. I just forgot to put it back on."

Gabriella walked over to her night stand and picked the ring back up and slipped it back on her finger.

"I'm sorry Troy. I shouldn't have left it off all day."

"Gabriella, it's not a big deal. I shouldn't have jumped to the wrong conclusion."

"You're disappointed."

"No it's ok. I knew there must be a reason behind the ring being off."

Gabriella walked over to Troy and grabbed his hand and pulled him down to the floor with her. She then kissed him and wrapped her arms around his neck and then ran her hands through his hair while Troy's hands were running up and down her back.

"How was that Troy?"

"You know how to make me feel good."

The two climbed up on Gabriella's bed and laid in each other's arms for a few hours before Troy went back to his own room. After he was gone Gabriella started thinking about what happened earlier. She knew Troy was a little upset that she hadn't taken the ring off as a sign that she was ready to be with him, but then again he knew what the ring stood for.

A couple of weeks later Gabriella was making her way down to Troy's room with a surprise for him. She wasn't sure how he would take it, but hoped he liked it. She quickly knocked on his door and opened it up to find Troy and Zeke playing a video game.

"Hey boys."

"Hi Gabs."

"Hi babe."

"Troy can we talk?"

"Yeah sure, can you just give me a few more minutes so I can finish off Zeke here?"

"Not going to happen Bolton."

"We'll see about that."

A few minutes later Zeke was able to beat Troy. "What did I tell you, there was no way you were taking me down."

"Whatever."

Troy got up and walked over to Gabriella and gave her a kiss.

"What's up?"

"How about we go down to my room?"

"Ok."

Troy looked back at Zeke and then followed Gabriella out of the room and down the hall to her own. Once they got there Gabriella turned around to face Troy.

"Gabi, is something wrong?"

"No, I just got you something and I don't know how you'll like it."

"Gabi, you know I'll like anything that you get me."

"Ok."

Gabriella handed him the bag and he pulled out the box that was inside and opened it.

"Gabi, what's...?"

"It's a ring."

Troy looked from the box then up to Gabriella. "Why?"

"I knew you wouldn't want it, or even consider wearing it."

"Gabriella, I just don't know why you bought me one."

"I just thought that maybe you'd like to wear a ring that I got you. I don't really know what you want to call it. It really wouldn't be considered a purity ring for you."

Troy just looked down at the ring. "Babe, I just don't know what to say. I'm not much of a ring wearer."

"It's fine, I can take it back."

"I'm not much of a ring wearer, but I'll wear this one because it's from you."

"You mean it?"

"Of course I do. I love you and you bought me this and I'm going to wear it."

The next day Troy found himself in the same jewelry store that was written on the bag that his ring was in.

"Can I help you sir?"

"Yes, you see my girlfriend bought me this ring yesterday and I was wondering if there was one for a girl that would match it."

"Let's see what we can find."

The salesmen took him over to the rings and Troy one that was exactly like his but was for a woman.

"That's the one I want."

"Ok sir, we can take care of that."

A few minutes later Troy was walking out of the jewelry store and over to his car. He started the car up and made his way back to the dorm. He ran back inside and went to Gabriella's room. She wasn't there so he decided to sit on the floor next to her door like he usually did until she came back.

"Troy, you could just leave me a message to meet you in your room instead of sitting here waiting for me."

"Well this way I'll see you faster."

"What are you doing here?"

"I got you something."

Gabriella smiled at him and then opened her door and the two went inside. Troy then handed Gabriella the bag and pulled out the box to find a ring that looked almost exactly like the one she had given him.

"Troy."

"I know you already have a ring, but I wanted to get one for you, and it matches mine."

"I can see that, but you really didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to."

Troy took the ring out of the box and slipped on Gabriella's finger.

"There you go. Now we each have one."

Gabriella stared at the new ring on her finger for a few seconds before looking up at Troy and pulling him into a passionate kiss.

"Troy I love you more than anything. I want you to know that."

"I love you to Gabi. No one has ever meant as much to me as you do. You're the only one I want to be with."

to be continued...


	22. Chapter 22

**Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it. Thanks to everyone who's been reading and leaving feedback. This story is almost over now.**

Chapter 22

Gabriella was sitting in the stands in the school's gymnasium with her friends. She wasn't surprised by how packed it was, and was glad that Taylor, Sharpay, and herself were able to find a seat together. While she was looking around she noticed Troy's parents sitting a few rows down and over from her and she waved to them. She then looked at the rings that were on her fingers. She first spun her purity ring around her finger and then turned her attention to the ring that Troy had given her and smiled. She then looked down at the floor and saw Troy and everyone else come into the gym. She couldn't believe that three years had already passed and Troy was graduating. Sometimes it just felt like she had started college and met Troy. She soon noticed that Troy was looking up at her and smiled back at him. They had been going strong for all three years, but did have a few bumps in the road. Troy had already gotten a job and he was going to be staying in Miami. He had gotten an apartment and asked Gabriella to move in with him, but she didn't feel comfortable with that.

Flashback

"_Gabriella, I don't understand why we can't live together."_

"_Troy, it's just too much. I mean actually living together. That's kind of serious."_

_Troy rolled his eyes. "Gabriella, I thought we were in a serious relationship?"_

"_We are Troy, but I just don't feel comfortable living with you."_

_Troy was a little annoyed at Gabriella. "Gabriella there are two bedrooms you won't have to share a bed with me."_

"_It's not just that. I just don't feel comfortable moving in with you."_

"_Whatever."_

_Troy just walked away from Gabriella._

End Flashback

After that disagreement they avoided each other for a week before they each cracked and went to find each other and apologized. Gabriella understood that Troy just wanted her to be there with him, but she was afraid that eventually he would want more. They were able to talk it all out and decided that Gabriella would stay where she was.

Soon the graduation ceremony started and Sharpay thought they would never get through everyone.

"Guys, can't we just leave. I mean Zeke, Chad, and Troy have all gotten their diploma's. Do we really have to watch all these other people we don't even know get theirs?"

"Sharpay, just be quiet. It will be done soon enough, and I doubt Zeke would like it if you left early."

"Fine, but we better be going to a great restaurant after this is all over with. Do any of you know where going?"

"No clue. Chad wouldn't say anything about."

Gabriella just shook her head no and the three of them went back to watching people walk up and accept their diplomas.

Once it was over Sharpay couldn't seem to get out of there fast enough.

"Sharpay, what's your hurry?"

"What do you think? I need to go to the ladies room."

"Hold up I'll join you."

Taylor caught up with Sharpay and the two made their way out of the gym. Gabriella looked over at where Jack and Lucille were and saw them still there so she went over to them. The three talked for awhile before heading out to try and look for Troy. Troy found them before they found him so he snuck up behind Gabriella and put his arms around her waist. Gabriella recognized his hands so decided to have some fun with him.

"Randy, not here, Troy's parents are right over there."

The hands were immediately gone from Gabriella's waist and she was spun around to see and angry Troy.

"Oh my God, Troy it's you."

"Who is Randy?"

Gabriella almost started laughing at how red Troy's face had gotten.

"Randy, I don't know who you're talking about Troy."

"You're not getting off that easy Gabriella, what's going on?"

Gabriella couldn't help it anymore and started laughing.

"You find this funny?"

"The only thing I find funny is that you thought I was serious."

Troy started laughing himself and couldn't believe he had fallen for that.

"Good grief, I just graduate from college and now feel completely stupid."

"I'm sorry Troy, I shouldn't have played with you on your day."

"That's right you shouldn't have. I think I deserve a kiss as an apology."

"Fine."

Gabriella went to give him a kiss on the cheek but he quickly moved so it would land on his lips.

"Good that's better."

"Come on Romeo. You're parents are waiting for us over there."

After they got finished with their meal Gabriella went back to Troy's apartment with him.

"Do you really need to go home tomorrow?"

"Troy you promised that if I stayed here with you until I left that you wouldn't argue with me going home for the summer."

"What am I supposed to do while you're in Texas?"

"I don't know, maybe you're job that you're supposed to be starting."

"What am I supposed to do when I get off?"

"Troy, you'll figure something out. You know that I love being with you, but I want to spend time with Matt and Madison."

David and Michelle had another baby at the beginning of Gabriella's junior year. Gabriella was thrilled when she found out she was going to be a sister again, and this time going to have a sister herself. She went a little overboard on buying her little dresses before she was born that some of them Madison never even got to wear.

"Ok, ok, you go spend time with your family, but you better come back and visit me before the summer is over."

"Don't worry, you won't have to go through the whole summer without me. Actually the entire family may come down to see you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you're Matt's best buddy, didn't you know?"

"Of course I knew, he always loves it when I come for a visit."

"Yeah and every time I come home without you he looks around wondering where you are."

"Hey what can I say, we're pals."

Gabriella went to go get a drink in the kitchen and while she was out of the room Troy went over to his desk and pulled out a box and opened it to reveal an engagement ring. Troy was just staring at it and didn't notice Gabriella walking back into the room. She just looked at him staring at the ring and wasn't sure what to do.

"Troy?"

Troy quickly closed the ring box and turned to Gabriella.

"Hey, how long have you been standing there?"

"Well, long enough to see what you were looking at."

"Dang it, this isn't the way I wanted this to happen."

"Troy, I guess I can say I didn't see anything."

"Yeah, but you did so that would be pointless."

Troy walked over to Gabriella and took her hands in his and lead her over to the chair and had her sit down. He then knelt down in front of and opened the box back up.

"Gabriella, I felt something for you from the moment you ran into me and the last three years of our lives have been the best of my life. I love you so much, and I never want us to be apart, and I don't mean you shouldn't go home for awhile." Troy and Gabriella both started laughing. "Gabriella, will you marry me?"

Gabriella smiled at Troy. "YES!" She then got up from the chair and through her arms around Troy's neck. "I love you, I love you, I love you."

"I love you to."

Before Troy could put the ring on Gabriella removed her purity ring so Troy could slip her engagement ring on that right finger. Troy smiled up at her and put the ring on.

"I love you."

"I love you to."

Gabriella removed the ring that Troy gave her from her right hand and put her purity ring on that hand and then pulled him into a kiss. After a few minutes Gabriella pulled back.

"Troy."

"Yeah babe?"

"Just so you do know, I'm still going home tomorrow."

Troy just started laughing.

"I figured, but I still love you."

"I love you to."

to be continued...


	23. Chapter 23 Final Chapter

**Here's the final chapter of My Promise. I'd like thank everyone who's been reading this story from the beginning. I really enjoyed writing. Special thanks to all who've been reviewing as well. I appreciate it!**

Chapter 23

Troy was in his car driving to the church. He couldn't believe this day had finally arrived. He and Gabriella decided to wait until she was finished with school to get married. So a few months after her graduation day they were finally getting married. This past year had gone by fast for him. Between his new job, spending time with Gabriella and their friends, and not to mention all the wedding plans he felt like his graduation day was a few weeks ago. Gabriella and Troy decided to get married in Texas at the church Gabriella had always gone to. Troy knew that's where Gabriella always wanted to get married so there was no question in his mind that they would get married there. Right after Gabriella graduated her parents decided they want to take a family vacation before her wedding. They decided that since Troy had pretty much become part of the family that he should go along with them. Troy couldn't help but smile as he thought of their trip to Hawaii.

Flashback

_Troy and Gabriella just got back to their room after a long day of sightseeing with David, Michelle, Matt, and Madison and were both ready to go to sleep. Gabriella quickly grabbed her bag and ran into the bathroom before Troy could so she could get her shower. After getting out Troy took his turn in the bathroom while Gabriella laid down on the bed and started flipping through the channel. A few minutes later the water stopped running and Troy came out wearing his towel._

"_Sorry, I forgot my clothes."_

_Gabriella couldn't help but stare at the water running down his chest, and she got off the bed and walked up to him and pulled him into a kiss. Soon it became a full make out session and Troy and Gabriella fell back down on the bed. Gabriella let her hands run up and down Troy's back and his hands were running up and down the sides of her night gown. Neither of them still pulled away and soon Troy reached down and took his towel off and threw it on the ground. Gabriella didn't realize what Troy did until her hands went further down Troy's back and realized there was something missing and she immediately broke the kiss._

"_Troy…"_

_Troy started kissing Gabriella's neck. "Yeah?"_

"_I think we need to stop."_

_Troy pulled back and looked at Gabriella. "What?"_

"_I think we've gotten a little carried away."_

_Troy looked in Gabriella's eyes and then down at his erection and knew what she meant. Gabriella hadn't even looked down at him yet and he quickly reached for the towel and wrapped it around himself again._

"_I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let it get that far."_

"_It's ok, you didn't do it alone. The thing is we did stop. I'm sorry if you're disappointed."_

"_I'm not disappointed Gabi, we said we'd wait and that's exactly what we're going to do. We'll be married soon and then we'll finally be able to be together."_

"_Our wedding night is going to be amazing isn't it?"_

"_I promise you I'll make it a night you'll never forget."_

End Flashback

Troy was at the church and was finished getting ready and was making his way to the front of the church to wait for Gabriella. Soon he was joined by Chad and Zeke along with a few family members of his. Troy looked down the aisle and saw Matt walking in with a pillow with both rings on it. Troy smiled at the little boy as he came closer to him. Being an only child, Troy was looking forward to being a big brother to Matt. Once Matt got to the altar, he went and stood behind Troy and looked up at him with a toothy grin. A few minutes later Gabriella's bridesmaids, that included one of her cousin's, a friend from high school, and Sharpay and Taylor, were walking down the aisle and Troy just kept looking towards the back to try and get a glimpse of Gabriella. Soon enough David was walking down the aisle with Gabriella on his arm. As soon as Troy saw her he got the biggest smile on his face that he'd ever had. Gabriella had never looked more beautiful to Troy then when he saw her right then. Soon Gabriella was standing next to Troy and David put her hand into Troy's. The wedding started with Troy and Gabriella hardly ever taking their eyes off each other. Before they knew it the wedding was over.

"Ladies and gentlemen let me be the first to introduce you to Mr. & Mrs. Troy Bolton."

Everyone started clapping as Troy pulled Gabriella into a sweet kiss. They soon walked down the aisle with the rest of the bridal party following them. After greeting all their guests everyone made their way to the reception. After they finished with the toasts and meals they made their way out onto the dance floor. Gabriella was eventually out on the dance floor with her father.

"I love you Gabriella."

"I love you to dad."

"I'm sorry your mom didn't come."

"Dad, don't worry about it. We invited her and she made her choice. She doesn't want to be a part of my life, and there doesn't seem to be anything I can do about it."

"I know, but I also know you were hoping that she would come."

"Well, we know we can't always get what we hope for."

After some more dancing Gabriella threw her bouquet out and Sharpay caught it, and then Gabriella was sitting on a chair so Troy could get her garter off. Troy made his way underneath Gabriella's dress and soon came back out with the garter in his mouth.

"Troy."

"Oh come on honey, you know you liked it."

Troy gave Gabriella quick kiss on the cheek before throwing the garter to all the single men only for Chad to end up with it. It was starting to get late so Troy grabbed Gabriella's hand and pulled her to the side.

"Are you ready to leave?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

Gabriella and Troy went to same goodbye to their parents and then made their way to the hotel they would be staying at. Once they got in they made their way to their room and Troy picked Gabriella up and carried her into the room. He put her down next to a table with champagne on it.

"Would you like some?"

"I'd love some, but I think I'll go and get changed first."

"Ok, we'll you go use the bathroom, and I'll get changed in here."

"Alright."

Once Gabriella grabbed her bag and made her way to the bathroom, Troy started undressing himself and pulled out a pair of silk black pajamas. A few minutes later he was in his pajamas, but left the buttons undone on his top, and poured two glasses of champagne. Gabriella came out of the bathroom with a black nightie on with a small robe over it. Troy's eyes got huge as soon as he saw her walk into the room.

"Wow."

"Thank you."

Gabriella walked closer to Troy and he handed her a glass. The two soon finished their glasses and Troy took her's back and put them both down. He then grabbed her robe and pulled her closer to him. He used his thumbs to push the robe off her shoulders and it landed on the ground. Troy then pulled Gabriella into a kiss and she had her hands running up and down his chest and abs. She soon pushed Troy's pajama shirt off him and it landed on the floor as well. Troy lifted Gabriella off the ground and started walking over to the bed and never broke their kiss. They were soon next to the bed and they fell back onto it. They were under the covers a few minutes later and Troy was rolling Gabriella over and he climbed on top of her. Soon, both Gabriella's nightie and Troy's pajama pants fell out from underneath the sheets and landed on the floor. Troy joined his hand to Gabriella's and pushed them into the pillow that Gabriella's head was resting on. A while later, Troy collapsed on top of Gabriella and his head was resting in the crook of her neck. He soon sat back up and looked in Gabriella's eyes with sweat falling off his hair onto Gabriella's shoulder.

"I love you Gabriella. That was…I don't even know how to describe."

Troy started running the pad of his thumb over Gabriella's cheek.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, Troy, words can't even describe how that felt. I love you more than I ever thought possible."

"I love you to Gabriella."

Troy got off Gabriella and pulled her into his arms. The two laid there for a few minutes with their legs wrapped around each other's.

"I never want this feeling to end."

"It never will babe, I promise, nothing is ever going to stop this feeling."

About twenty minutes later Troy got up out of the bed and made his way into the bathroom. He quickly flipped on the water and then went back out and grabbed the glasses and champagne.

"Troy what are you doing?"

"You'll see, just wait a minute."

Gabriella just laughed as he walked back into the bathroom. She picked her nightie off the floor and slipped it back on and made her way into the bathroom to see the Jacuzzi bathtub filling up with water and bubbles.

"Troy."

Troy turned to the door and saw Gabriella standing there.

"Gabi, you were supposed to wait in bed."

"I'm sorry, but this is amazing."

"Well the Jacuzzi is filled up so how about we get in?"

"Sounds good."

Troy walked over to Gabriella and slipped the straps of Gabriella's nightie off her shoulders and it soon pooled at her feet. They then both lowered themselves into the water while kissing. Once they were in the water Troy broke the kiss and grabbed the bottle and filled both glasses up and handed her one.

"To you Mrs. Bolton."

"No, to us."

They each took a drink and then Gabriella noticed the bowl of fruit that was also sitting there. Troy grabbed a strawberry and fed some of it to Gabriella and finished the rest of it off.

"Troy, I will never forget this night."

"Neither will I, but we will have many and I mean many more nights like this."

Awhile later the fruit was all gone and now Gabriella's back was resting against Troy's chest as he was leaning against the side of the tub.

"I love this tub Troy. The jets just keep on shooting out hot water."

"You've got to love a bath that never gets cold."

Gabriella looked over right shoulder up at Troy and he leaned down and kissed her. After Gabriella broke this kiss she turned her head back around and Troy started kissing the side of her neck.

"I love you Gabi."

"I love you to."

Gabriella then looked over at the clock and couldn't believe what times it was.

"It's already 3 o'clock. This night has just gone by so fast."

"Yeah, but we'll have years of this."

"Troy, where do you see our future?"

"I see our future every time I look into your eyes. I see you carrying a little boy up to your dad's house at Christmas while I'm carrying a handful of presents and being very unsuccessful in not dropping them."

Gabriella started laughing. "Troy."

"I'm serious. I see us having our own family and spending the holidays with the rest of our family and being happier than either one of us have ever been. Then I see us having another baby one day, and having the perfect family."

"I want everything you just said."

"Oh yeah, and a dog of course."

"Of course."

Troy pulled Gabriella back into another kiss both knowing they were both going to have an amazing life to look forward to.

**The End!**


	24. Chapter 24

I just wanted to let you all know that there is a sequel to My Promise that is now being posted. It is called Please Remember. I hope you all like it!


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